THE 



LIFE AND WAITINGS 

OF 

RE7. SAMUEL CROTHERS, D.D., 

BEIXG 



EXTRACTS FROM HIS WRITINGS ILLUSTRATIVE OF HIS 
STYLE, AND OF THE PATRIARCHAL AND MOSAIC 
ECONOMY; INTERWOVEN WITH A 
NARRATIVE OF HIS LIFE. 



BY REV. ANDREW RITCHIE, 

AUTHOR OP THE " SACRAMENTAL CATECHISM." 



" He being dead yet speaketh." 



CINCINNATI: 

MOOBE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 
25 West Fourth Street, 
1 8 5 7. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 

In the Clerk's offica of the District Court of the United States for 
the Southern District of Ohio. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Parentage. Childhood. Probable Reason why sent 
to Study. Education. Scepticism. Its Cure. The 
Value of Early Religious Training. Probable Con- 
version. Theological Studies under Dr. Mason. 
Lecture in Theological Hall on Matt vi. 24 — 34 ? 



CHAPTER II. 

Settlement at Chillicothe. and Hop Run. His Advice 
to Pastors in reference to Debt. Agitation in the 
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on Psalm- 
ody and Communion. The Positions of the Various 
Parties Stated. His Change of Ecclesiastical Con- 
nection. When it is Duty to Change Ecclesiastical 
Connection. Ofiice Bearers in the Church are Rep- 
resentatives, not of the People, but of Christ, 



CHAPTER in. 

Settlement at Greenfield. His Style of Preaching. 
Dr. Porter's Views proved True in his case. His 
Style of Pulpit Oratory. Title of D. D. Sermons 
on the Baptist Controversy. The Gospel of the Ju- 
bilee — the Rule by which to Determine Types and 

cm.) 



i v 



CONTENTS. 



Anti-Types — the Atonement, when Complete — Typ- 
ical Meaning of the Jubilee Eelease — the Law res- 
pecting the Treatment of the Poor. The Life of 
Abraham ; — the Offices sustained by Abraham, and 
all Elder Brethren, under the Patriarchal Dispen- 
sation — Abraham's Servants not slaves — the Abra- 
hamic Covenant, 59 

CHAPTER IV. 

Sketch of the Rise of the Anti-Slavery Agitation. Dr. 
Crothers' Appeal in Behalf of Enslaved Africans. 
What the Old Testament Teaches in respect to 
Slavery. Positions taken by the various Presby- 
terian Churches Stated. Agitation in the General 
Assembly. His Controversy with Dr. Young. The 
Harmony of Moses and the Apostles, on the sub- 
ject of Slavery — what is Implied in any other Sup- 
position. Review of Dr. Hodge — Five Ways of 
Making Slaves Considered. The Effect of his Let- 
ter to Dr. Alexander. Position taken by the Chil- 
licothe Presbytery. Secret Societies. Report on 
Divorce, ------- 149 

CHAPTER V. 

Personal Appearance. Social Character. Conver- 
sational Powers. Extensive Knowledge of the Old 
Testament Scriptures. The Necessity of Studying 
the Old Testament Scriptures. His mode of Teach- 
ing Students Theology. His deep Piety. Estimate 
of his Character as a Member of Church Courts. 
His last Sickness, ------ 219 



PREFACE. 



u As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the face 
of a man his friend/' is a truth, taught not only 
by mental philosophers, but also, in the words 
we have quoted, by the pen of inspiration. 

There is also another truth of no less import- 
ance, viz : that when the face can no longer be 
seen — when it has changed the sparkling eye, 
and the life-lit countenance for the cold, glassy 
form of death, and become the food of worms, 
by works its subject can yet speak : as it is 
expressed in the Scriptures, " He being dead 
yet speaketh." And we are persuaded that 
few works will speak longer or louder, than a 
written testimony for the truth. And this is 
our chief reason for reproducing, in this vol- 
ume, the testimony of one, who, if acquaintance 
with the oracles of God gives a right to be 
heard, is specially entitled to a patient hearing. 
A testimony, too, on subjects which now, in no 
small degree, engage the thoughts of Chris- 
tians of various denominations : viz., on the 

(*•) 



vi 



PREFACE. 



subjects of Slavery, Psalmody, Inter-coraniu- 
nion, Secret Societies, Infant Baptism, and, 
When it is Duty to Change our Ecclesiastical 
Belations. 

The presentation of Dr. Cr others' thoughts 
and known opinions on these subjects is our 
chief design ; and we have chosen to do so by 
interweaving them in a narrative of his life, 
that thus, as far as possible, we may re-produce 
not only his works, but also himself, that the 
reader may thereby be sharpened, as by the 
face of a friend. 

This, however, being our purpose, we have 
been less minute in stating the particulars of 
his long and useful life, than would otherwise 
have been the case. This, indeed, we would 
have been unable to do, from the fact that he 
left no diary, nor could we procure any corres- 
pondence of value — the ordinary sources of 
biography. 

That our labor may be blessed to the further- 
ing the interests of the cause of Christ, is the 
desire of the Author. 

Greenfield, April, 1857. 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DE. CEQTHERS. 



CHAPTEE I. 

"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of 
the Lord." 

In the year 1787 might be seen a small com- 
pany crossing the Alleghenies, with all their 
earthly wealth on a few pack-horses, except, 
perchance, a few dollars carefully concealed 
about their persons. In that small company 
was a little boy, about five years of age, by 
name Samuel Crothers, now the subject of 
our memoir. 

His parents were then emigrating from 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, to Kentucky. 
Then emigration was not the easy task, which, 
with the aid of railroads and steamboats, it is 
now found to be. Hence, it is not without 
reason we infer, that those who then undertook 
to encounter the difficulties of reaching a desti- 
nation in the far West, and brave the dangers of 
frontier life, exposed as they were not only to 
the wild beasts of the forest, but also to the 

(vIL) 



8 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

blood-thirsty, and, in some cases, justly indig- 
nant savages, were men and women of resolu- 
tion and firmness. And such a presumption 
would have been true in the case of the parents 
of Samuel Crothers. 

His father served in the army of the Revo- 
lution, and was reputed a man of great firmness, 
and at the same time was noted for his strong 
sense of justice. The doctrine " that might 
should make right," was by him held in utter 
detestation — a trait of character which his son 
largely inherited. His mother was also a 
woman of more than usual stern character. 
Brought up amid the trials and labors conse- 
quent on the Revolutionary- War, it might be 
expected that she would be free from much of 
that effeminacy which characterizes too large a 
portion of the women of the present age. In- 
deed, had she not been accustomed to the labors 
and the dangers which fell to the lot of the 
women of the Revolution, we would have 
expected from the training which she doubt- 
less received from her mother, that such would 
have been her character; for her mother (Sam- 
uel Crothers' grand-mother) was trained in the 
school of adversity, having lost both her parents 
at the seige of Londonderry, Ireland, in the 
year 1690, and afterward endured many hard- 
ships at the hands of the Eoman Catholics, in 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



9 



the then unsettled state of the country, pre- 
vious to her marriage and emigration to Amer- 
ica. With a mother trained in such a school, 
we might expect that the mother of Samuel 
Crothers would not be lacking in any of the 
qualities requisite to success in the battle of 
life. That such was her character is evident 
from the fact, that she continued to manage the 
business of their farm after the decease of her 
husband, and through her management Samuel 
was provided, in a great measure, with funds 
to enable him to prosecute his studies. 

His parents were doubtless actuated by the 
desire, found almost universal among Scotch 
and Scotch Irish families of the middle class, 
viz : that if not able to educate all, they will at 
least educate one of their sons. It is quite 
common, in Scotland, to find the brothers of 
a family combining together, to assist in the 
education of one of their number — counting 
that if their brother attains to honor and influ- 
ence, they will be benefited thereby. 

But if this was the feeling which prompted 
the parents of Samuel Crothers to determine 
to educate one of their sons, the question arises, 
why was Samuel selected ? 

One summer afternoon, more than half a 
century ago, on the farm of Samuel Crothers' 
parents, a very ludicrous scene might have 



10 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



been witnessed. The subject of our memoir, 
then about fourteen years of age, might be seen, 
with great diligence, building up an old falling 
fence unconscious of any observers ; at a little 
distance might be seen a laughing group, com- 
posed of his mother, brothers, and sisters, 
looking at his diligent working, with much 
merriment. Here is the secret of it. It was so 
uncommon for Samuel to be thus engaged, he 
being proverbially lazy, that his elder brother 
had called out the family to see him working. 
This ridicule, however, did not cure him, it- 
served the rather to make him relapse into his 
former habits ; and being useless on the farm, 
he was continued at school. 

The preceding reason was frequently spoken 
of by himself, as the one which led to his selec- 
tion, as the son who should be educated ; there 
were, doubtless, however, other reasons, such 
as his aptitude for learning — it is said that he 
learned the whole alphabet in one day. True, 
he did not show much disposition to study — to 
be the leader in some frolic, or the producer 
of sport to some merry group, was his chief 
desire ; yet he succeeded in the recitation-room 
better than many in his class more studious. 

He excelled greatly as a mimic ; and in the 
exercise of his mimicry, he often produced 
mirth for, and fascinated his companions. But 



SAMUEL CR0THER3. 



as lias been well remarked, " The man who can 
fascinate society, is he who of all others, is the 
most subject to its fascination/' Hence we 
need not wonder, that at Lexington Academy, 
which he entered in 1798, two years before his 
father's death, he soon, through the influence 
of ungodly companions, cut loose from his 
early impressions of the religion of Christ, and 
his responsibility to God. 

Instead of walking in the footsteps of his 
pious parents, he was soon a leader of those 
who sneered at the Bible, and the practice of 
godliness. 

And here we notice a coincidence, between 
him and the immortal TTilberforce : both, con- 
trary to their early training, embraced for a 
time, infidelity ; both possessed in a great degree 
the power to mimic; both were careless of study 
and yet able to make a good show at examina- 
tions, on account of their natural acuteness. 
Did these traits of character exhibit any evi- 
dences of that nature which led both to devote 
so much of their time and talent to eradicate 
from the world the idea that 11 Might makes 
right?" We notice these coincidences because 
we hold that every biography in a great meas- 
ure fails of its end, if facts are not so presented 
in it that they can be used to aid the mental 
philosopher, in his elucidation of the principles 



12 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of human action, a great aid is certainly at- 
tained if in any degree a key to the intricacy 
of the principles of human action has been fur- 
nished ; so that it may be by so much easier, 
to judge of the probabilities of human conduct, 
in a given case. 

Samuel Crothers 5 infidelity was, however, for- 
tunately, to have but a short duration. He and 
some fellow-students had formed an infidel club 
to hasten on the work of freeing men from the 
thraldom of the Bible; but God had chosen the 
leading members of it as instruments to build 
up the cause they were now destroying, and 
soon the truth of the motto at the head of this 
chapter was verified in the case of Samuel 
Crothers. The leader in their schemes of fun 
and frolic, and doubtless, also, the leader in 
urging on the rejection of the Bible, must first 
be taken. Accordingly, having in the pres- 
ence of one of his teachers, made a sneering 
remark, regarding the contradictions found 
in the Bible, his teacher replied — "I con- 
sider these apparent contradictions, which are 
found in the Bible, for they are only apparent 
(they have been all satisfactorily reconciled), 
no mean proof that the Bible is from God ; 
were it the production of impostors, they would 
carefully have excluded these apparent contra- 
dictions." This was, in his case, a nail fastened 



SAMUEL CR0THER8. 



13 



in a sure place ; and here his infidelity ended, 
and probably at the same time, the work of 
grace was begun in his heart. The same 
remark repeated by him. to a fellow-student, 
produced the same effect, and he too, devoted 
his life to the work of the ministry — to the 
building up of that cause which he once labored 
to destroy; "a word spoken in season, how 
good it is." 

Here we have presented one of the causes, 
and that too a chief cause, of infidelity, viz : 
ignorance. Why did Samuel Crothers and his 
fellow-students at Lexington Academy sneer 
at the contradictions of the Bible? The answer 
is obvious : First, they were ignorant of the 
mode of reconciling those apparent contradic- 
tions, and with the self-confidence which ig- 
norance produces, concluded that they were 
irreconcilable. Second, they were ignorant of 
the fact that these apparent contradictions 
were an evidence, not against, but for the truth 
of the Bible; hence when convinced of these 
truths, their infidelity vanished. In this case 
it was true — 

"A little learning is a dangerous thing." 

Young men, with just tl learning" enough to be 
able to raise objections to the evidences of 
Christianity, and not enough to be able to 



14 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



answer theni, if of an enthusiastic tempera- 
ment, are especially liable to the temptations 
of infidelity. 

And if their previous training has been in 
opposition to Bible truth, the probability is 
strong that they will fall forever under its 
power, at least the disposition to embrace the 
knowledge requisite to their deliverance, will 
be much less strong than would have been the 
case, had they early been taught the truth. 
The remark which was the means of putting to 
flight the infidelity of Samuel Crothers, might 
have been blessed to accomplish the work, had 
his training from childhood, been the opposite 
of what it was ; but it would not have done so 
with the same celerity; many doubtings, debat- 
ings, and fightings, would have had to be en- 
dured, before freedom was obtained. Here then 
we have some facts worthy of note. First, we 
had the fact that ignorance produces infidelity; 
second, the fact that knowledge can cure it, and 
third, the fact that those who are early taught 
the truth of God, if they should embrace infidel- 
ity are yet more disposed to yield to the evi- 
dence, the lack of which caused their stumbling. 
It is true that renegades from Christianity are 
generally its bitterest opponents, but their 
very bitterness I take to be produced from a 
want of confidence in their newly -professed 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



15 



principles. If a man is fully confident that the 
position he advocates is true, he will not he 
greatly irritated, at fruitless attempts to over- 
throw it. 

We fully believe that nearly all who have 
early been taught the truths of the Gospel, 
though for a time they may turn aside to infi- 
delity, yet it will only be for a time. They 
will discover the hollowness of its pretensions, 
and its want of adaptation to the necessities of 
their natures, and hence they will again gladly 
accept "the Gospel of the grace of God." 

'We have already hinted our belief, that the 
remark which cured Samuel Crothers of his 
infidelity, was also blessed for his conversion 
to God ; and we are further confirmed in this 
belief by the fact, that he soon after (viz., in 
the year 1803) united himself with the Asso- 
ciate Eeformed Presbyterian Church, of Lex- 
ington, and the year following he placed himself 
under the care of the Kentucky Presbytery of 
the Associate Eeformed Presbyterian Church, 
as a student of Theology, with a view to the 
Gospel Ministry. It is true that membership 
in a church, or even an expressed desire to 
preach the Gospel is not, of itself, sufficient 
evidence of regeneration. But when we take 
into account the circumstances under which 
this was done in Samuel Crothers' case — viz., 



16 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the fact that he had lately been sneering at 
the Bible as a revelation from God, together 
with the unpopularity of a profession of reli- 
gion in that region, at the time — strong evi- 
dence is furnished, by his act, of his being a 
possessor of that faith which manifests itself 
in works. 

About this time the United States were over- 
run with a species of French infidelity. It 
made great progress, not so much because it 
inculcated the idea that " death was an eternal 
sleep," or that the "Bible was a fabrication of 
impostors," as for the freedom it promised from 
holy precept and priestly domination. 

The past history of the world had failed to 
teach the masses that heathenism, or even athe- 
ism may impose a harder service, and certainly 
one less conducive to the welfare of man than 
that which the Bible imposes; and that they 
too can have a priesthood, at least equally 
selfish and tyrannical with the ministry of the 
Gospel ; and, on account of its prevalence, it 
required some resolution and firmness to pro- 
fess Christianity. Since, then, Samuel Croth- 
ers overcame all this opposition, we think we 
are warranted in saying, that it was " through 
the grace of God, in him." And here we must 
note the fact, that though largely assisted by 
his mother, yet he found it necessary to teach 



SAMUEL CR0THER8. 



17 



part of his time, in order to obtain the means 
of prosecuting his studies. 

There were*then no educational societies to 
assist young men in the prosecution of their 
studies with "material aid ; " each one had to 
depend on his own exertions, and whatever 
assistance he might obtain from his friends. 
And were it not for the urgent demand for 
laborers, heard from every quarter of the globe, 
and the fact, that through the agency of educa- 
tional societies, those with slender means are 
enabled much sooner to prepare themselves for 
the work, we could almost wish they had no 
existence now. 

The experience, the common sense view of 
men and things, obtained in the contact with 
the world, which is had in the obtaining of 
means to prosecute further studies, is of much 
value, in after life, to ministers of the Gospel — 
he will need, and should therefore strive to 
obtain, the wisdom of the serpent, and the 
harmlessness of the dove. A little more knowl- 
edge of the actual world, with even a less 
knowledge of books, would often prevent the 
dissolution of many a pastorate. 

The Associate Eeformed Presbyterian Church 
having established a Theological Seminary at 
Xew York, in 1S05, the first institution of the 
kind in the United States, Samuel Crothers 
2 



18 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



was ordered by his Presbytery to attend it, 
which he did, four sessions, leaving the Semi- 
nary in 1809. 

There he enjoyed the advantage of instruc- 
tion from one who has been called — and we 
believe he is worthy of the epithet — "Prince 
of American Preachers,'" viz.. Dr. John Bt 
Mason. 

He. also there had the advantage of contact 
with fellow-students, some of whom were after- 
ward distinguished as writers and successful 
pastors. 

TVe are not able to state what influence such 
a teacher had in molding the character, form- 
ing the principles, and awakening the ambi- 
tion of his pupils : but doubtless the man 
who led Eobert Hall, after he had heard him 
preach, to exclaim, : - 1 can never preach again.'" 
must have exercised a great influence over his 
students. 

Though few men have been more opposed to 
the practice of imitating another than Samuel 
Crothers, yet doubtless he insensibly imbibed 
from Dr. Mason his propensity to use sarcasm, 
which we will afterward have occasion to 
illustrate. 

Although a member of a class in the Semi- 
nary where all stood high as scholars and 
theologians, and some of them afterward 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



19 



showed that their reputation was well founded, 
among whom we might mention the name of 
the gifted and brilliant McChord, yet Samuel 
Crothers was reputed the most eminent theolo- 
gian in his class; and were we to judge by his 
attainments afterward in that department, we 
can easily believe that his reputation was well 
founded, and we feel sure that none of Dr. 
Mason's students ever more cordially adopted 
his oft-repeated advice, " call no man master, 
on earth, but examine every principle in 
the light of divine truth/' than did Samuel 
Crothers. 

But in order that our readers may judge for 
themselves, we here copy the substance of a 
lecture, delivered by him in the Theological 
Seminary, in 1807. It is, probably, the first 
discourse ever delivered by him, and shows 
how remarkably practical his mind was, when 
even a student. The lecture is founded on the 
passage contained in Matt. vi. 21 — 34. "jN"o 
man can serve two masters," etc. 

PIRST LECTURE. 
" There is nothing which every day's exj^eri- 
ence more fully confirms, than that nothing 
beneath the sun can satisfy the desires of an 
immortal soul — subject to a thousand accidents, 
and like the most costly garments and the 



20 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



finest gold, which the moth and rust can 
destroy, they are perishable in their nature, 
and hence improper objects for the soul's grati- 
fication. What folly, then, for him who expects 
to live throughout eternity, to spend his days 
and nights in heaping up the treasures of earth, 
which can only be enjoyed for a few days. 

" Were we to judge, however, of our own 
past conduct, and the conduct of those around 
us, we would be led to imagine that the truth 
was exactly the reverse ; that instead of a few 
days, this earth was to be our residence forever, 
and that the more toil and anxiety we give 
ourselves now, in securing wealth, the more 
lasting and perfect shall be our happiness 
hereafter. Even among those who profess 
that they have renounced the world, how true 
is it that, instead of inquiring how shall our 
souls find salvation, how shall we secure the 
favor of God, their inquiry is, what shall we 
eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal 
shall we be clothed ? Tet there are none whose 
consciences do not tell theni, that to suffer their 
affections to be wholly engrossed with the lat- 
ter would be extreme folly; and there are few 
who are not frequently compelled, through dis- 
appointments, to acknowledge that perfect 
happiness is to be expected only in the former, 
and that all beneath the sun is but vanity and 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



21 



vexation of spirit; and yet perhaps the very 
next movement, the most trifling change of 
circumstances, will "be sufficient inducement to 
repeat experiments which they have found a 
thousand times to be vain, and to look for hap- 
piness in those very things in which they had 
just before acknowledged it was not to be 
expected. The necessity, therefore, of having 
our affections undivided between God and the 
world, and of having them placed solely on Him, 
is a subject which should frequently be upon 
our minds ; and if there is anything calculated 
to impress it upon our minds, it is the conside- 
ration in the passage before us, that to serve 
both (i. e., God and the world) is impossible. 
1 No man can serve two masters, for either he 
will hate the one, and love the other, or else 
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. 
Ye can not serve God and mammon.' 

"It is a necessary consequence of the limited 
capacity of man, to be always unsuccessful in 
proportion as the objects of his pursuits are 
multiplied. If he spends all his energy on one, 
the rest, of course, suffer neglect, and if he 
attempts to do justice to each he will do justice 
to none ; this must, in the nature of things be 
the case, though there should be nothing in the 
one inconsistent with the other; but how much 
more impossible is it when they are opposed to 



22 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



each other, in their natures, and must be pur- 
sued by different and contrary courses. 

"How then can he who makes this world the 
idol of his heart, pretend to render that service 
which is due to the living God ? for the services 
which they respectively require are not only 
different, but as inconsistent as they possibly 
can be — what the one commands and approves, 
the other forbids and condemns. 

" He who gives himself up to the love of this 
world, submits himself to the influence of a 
principle which has its origin in corruption, 
and which leads to death ; one which will lead 
him to live as if there were no future state of 
existence, in which to be eternally happy or 
miserable ; hence the life of such a one will be 
nothing else but a life of rebellion against God, 
the very opposite of his command, c Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with 
all thy soul, with all thy strength, and thy 
neighbor as thyself.' 

" Let the heart and life be regulated by such 
a principle as this, and the subject of it will 
consider the favor and the fellowship of God as 
his supreme happiness, and will consider the 
riches and honor of this life as unworthy of 
his attention, except so far as they subserve 
the glorifying of God, and the good of his 
creatures — such a principle originates in grace, 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



23 



in that grace of God which brings salvation, 
1 Teaching us that denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- 
eously, and godly, in this present evil world, 
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious 
appearing of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
peculiar people, zealous of good works. 3 

" Hence also the apostle John's declaration, 
1 If any man love the world, the love of the 
Father is not in him,' and if this declaration be 
true, how few there are who can call them- 
selves the servants and children of God. 

" There are few men so lost to reason as to 
advocate the principle of making a god of this 
world, or of bestowing upon it the service which 
is due to God, but at the same time, they are 
equally few who are not under the influence of 
that very principle, which they could not in 
in reason acknowledge : what else is that anxi- 
ety and uneasiness which is often manifested 
about the necessaries and conveniences of life? 
That it is this in particular which the Ke- 
deemer represents as serving Mammon, and as 
wholly inconsistent with the service of God, is 
evident from the following verse, in the pass- 
age before us : 1 Therefore I say unto you, take 
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or 



24 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



what ye shall drink, or for your body, what ye 
shall put on.' 

" We are by no means authorized to construe 
these words into an encouragement for idle- 
ness or carelessness in temporal affairs; on the 
other hand, the Scriptures pronounce the man 
1 who provides not for his own, and especially 
for those of his own house, as worse than an 
infidel ;' but the thoughtfulness which he for- 
bids is that of distracting care, which arises 
out of a mistrust of the providence of God. 
Thus in the prospect of sickness, or of being 
called in the providence of God to the perform- 
ance of any duty which shall interrupt secular 
business, we are apt to give ourselves much 
unnecessary disquietude, through fear of com- 
ing to want, either as to the necessaries or com- 
forts of life. This certainly proceeds from a 
want of confidence in the faithfulness of God. 
Is he not the author of our lives, and the 
framer of our bodies ? Is he not able, also, to 
furnish the means of their preservation? 

u 1 Is not the life' ( says he ) ' more than 
meat, and the body than raiment?' To doubt 
his ability, would be the rankest atheism, and 
it would be just as irrational, as it is wicked, 
to suppose that he is unwilling to furnish the 
means of preservation, to those beings to whom 
his omnipotence has given life. How else are 



SAMUEL CROTHERS 



25 



those creatures supported which have no idea 
of providing for themselves, than by the con- 
stant superintending providence of God? 'Be- 
hold the fowls of the air they sow not neither 
do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your 
Heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not 
better than they?' 

" There is no man who has such a mean and 
contemptible opinion of himself as to suppose 
that he is inferior in importance, or more un- 
worthy the attention of his Creator than a 
beast, and yet, what appears at first sight 
astonishing and certainly very inconsistent, is 
that there are many who affirm practically, if 
not in words, that they themselves are the only 
creatures who are not the subjects of his care. 
This, however, is not the language of humility, 
but in reality, an expression of the most arro- 
gant kind, in reference to their own sufficiency 
and comparative importance. They will admit, 
that those inferior creatures which are inca- 
pable of reason and foresight, have their wants 
supplied and are protected from destruction by 
the faculties and instincts given and preserved 
to them by their Creator. All are dependent 
on him; hence the declaration, < Which of you 
by taking thought can add one cubit to your 
stature?' Whether we understand the word 
stature to refer to the hight of oar bodies, or 
3 



26 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the length of our lives, we can not but admit 
that in both cases we are equally dependent on 
him who first gave us our being, it is equally 
impossible for us to add either to our hight, or 
to the length of our days. Few, however, are 
so anxious about their personal appearance, as 
to wish to add a cubit to their hight. This 
consideration, together with the connection in 
which it stands, inclines us to adopt the other 
interpretation. The question then will be, 
'Which of you can add to the length of your 
day?' And if such a thing is impossible, how 
absurd to indulge in distracting and distrustful 
anxieties, as if the whole course of your lives 
depended on yourselves, and as if God was in 
no way concerned in providing the means of 
your support. 

"In the same manner he rebukes our want of 
confidence in the providence of God with regard 
to the comforts of life, by directing our atten- 
tion to those inanimate parts of creation which 
are exposed to dangers of every kind, and 
without the power of caring for, or protecting 
themselves, and which because they are thus 
helpless, exposed, and solely dependent on Him 
who takes care of the universe, he so cares for 
them that the greatest and most powerful of 
kings could show nothing to equal them in del- 
icacy and grandeur. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



27 



" ' "Why take ye thought for raiment? consider 
the lilies of the field how they grow, they toil 
not neither do they spin, and yet I say unto 
yon, that Solomon in all his glory was not 
arrayed like one of these.' 'Wherefore if God 
so clothe the grass of the field which to-day 
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall 
he not much more clothe you ? O ye of little 
faith.' If the grass and the flowers which to- 
day flourish in the fields, that to-morrow they 
may be cut down for the purpose of making 
fuel for an oven — if objects so insignificant do 
not lack the constant and particular attention 
of God, what can betray more ignorance and 
want of faith, than the supposition that the 
life and comfort of man who is formed for 
nobler purposes than these, should be wholly 
disregarded. In the following verses it is 
shown that such a supposition is not only in- 
consistent with our relations to him, as his 
children, but a practical declaration that our 
God is like the gods of the heathen, and also, 
a refusal to acknowledge him as a Father who 
knows and will provide for the wants of his 
children. £ Therefore take no thought what ye 
shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or where- 
withal shall ye be clothed, for after all these 
things do the Gentiles seek, for your Heavenly 



28 



LIFE AND WRITINGS O* 



Father knoweth that ye have need of these 

things.' 

" A heathen may with some show of reason 
suffer himself to be distracted with such mean 
and groveling cares. He has no assured pros- 
pect of any other portion than that which con- 
sists in the perishing enjoyments of this life, 
and even for these he has no security but in 
his own exertions. How can a god of wood or 
stone, dependent on man for its form, afford 
him any protection ? But the Christian has not 
the same plea, for he worships a God possessed 
of every possible perfection, and who in order 
to show his affection for his people, and the 
implicit confidence which they may place in 
his care and protection, has taught us to call 
him by the endearing title of Heavenly Father : 
'Your Heavenly Father knoweth what things 
ye have need of If an earthly parent who is 
under the influence of various irregular pas- 
sions, can not turn a deaf ear to the cries of 
the child of his affection, how can he who is 
the ' Father of mercies' withhold what things 
He knows are for the good of his children ? 

" But when he gives, he gives as a Father, 
and hence does not give every thing which we 
may choose to ask, for frequently we ask 
things which would work out our destruction 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



29 



if given. Hence our Kedeemer, when promis- 
ing his disciples that their prayers, presented 
in faith, should be answered, at the same time 
declared, that they should be answered in the 
way which infinite wisdom should see most for 
their good ; and he shows the reasonableness 
of this course by referring to the action of 
earthly parents : ' If a son shall ask bread of 
any of you that is a father, will he give him a 
stone ? or if he ask a fish will he give him a 
serpent? or if he shall ask an egg will he offer 
him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts unto your children, how 
much more shall your Heavenly Father give 
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.' 

" From these considerations the duty of every 
Christian is plain. Instead of suffering the 
things of this present life to divert his atten- 
tion from the things which pertain to his future 
well-being, the latter should be the principal 
object of his concern, seeing he has the prom- 
ise, £ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added unto you.' By the 'kingdom of God' 
we are undoubtedly to understand that king- 
dom of grace which he has established here 
upon earth, and which is preparatory to his 
kingdom of glory. And by 4 his righteousness,' 
that righteousness which belongs to this 



30 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



kingdom, including not only that which is i by 
faith on Christ,' but also that personal holiness 
of heart and life, which is effected in the work 
of regeneration and sanctification. To those 
who seek these things the promise belongs, but 
to no others — for the promise is godliness, not 
ungodliness ; but < Godliness is profitable unto 
all things, having the promise of the life that 
now is, as well as that which is to come.' And 
in the one hundred and twelfth Psalm we have 
an enumeration of blessings, both temporal 
and spiritual — but all promised to the ' man 
who feareth the Lord, and delighteth greatly 
in his commandments.' But the Christian 
must not expect that those promises shall 
always literally be accomplished, but only so 
far as it shall be for his own good, and the 
glory of Him whom he serves. 

" We see, by every day's observation, that the 
children of God are not always the most 
wealthy, nor do they always occupy the high 
places of the earth. On the contrary, they 
are often poor and despised. But the expe- 
rience of every one, who knows his own heart, 
will furnish him with a sufficient reason for 
this. When he reflects on the past, he knows 
how dangerous affluence would have been to 
him, and perhaps he can point to periods of 
his life in which the privation of these things 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



31 



have been made the happy means of rousing 
him from sinful lethargy. 

" But when such training is not necessary, tho 
promises are his, and he need not be troubled. 
On the contrary, his duty is, to < Take therefore 
no thought for the morrow, for the morrow 
shall take thought for the things of itself; suffi- 
cient unto the day is the evil thereof 

" If He, who provides for the wants of the 
beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven, 
takes care of us also, we will surely be pre- 
served from difficulties, or carried safely through 
them; His grace will always be sufficient for 
our need — as our day is so shall our strength 
be. The same supplies are not always neces- 
sary, because our difficulties and wants are not 
always equal. If, then, to-day we feel ourselves 
no more than sufficiently supplied for the pres- 
ent necessity, w T e are not therefore to conclude 
that, when greater difficulties occur, we shall 
be less prepared to meet them. 

<c The order which God has established, both 
with regard to the gifts of his providence and 
his grace, is 'As jour day is, so shall your 
strength be.' When thou passest through the 
water I will be with you, and through the 
rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when thou 
walkest through the fire thou shalt not be 
burnt, neither shall the flames kindle upon 



32 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



thee/ These promises should dispel all dis- 
tracting cares with regard to futurity, and give 
encouragement to expect that every day will 
bring with it mercies equal to its miseries ; or, 
in the language of Christ, £ The morrow will 
take thought for the things of itself.' 

"Another argument is here used to enforce 
the duty of laying aside distracting thoughts 
and anxieties : viz., that they are of no advant- 
age, but, on the other hand, productive of evil. 
4 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' 

£< Every day generally brings with it troubles 
enough. How foolish, then, to increase them by 
adding to them the troubles of to-morrow. It 
is thus that we unfit ourselves for present 
duty, and take away all the relish of present 
enjoyments. Besides, our anticipations almost 
always increase the magnitude of the evils 
which are before us. How often do we give 
ourselves days and nights of inquietude on 
account of some supposed approaching diffi- 
culty, which, if it should come, would not 
bring half the pain which we suffered by antic- 
ij^ation. 

" Were we, at any period of our lives, to have 
a view of all the scenes through which we had 
to pass, it would either fill us with despair at 
the prospect of difficulties, or render us discon- 
tented with our present position, in view of 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



33 



the pleasures which were awaiting us, and 
unmindful of God, our Creator. For this, and 
other reasons, a God of goodness has left 
futurity dark, and would have us act on the 
principle, < Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof.' 

"How often, when indulging in the most 
pleasing hopes, have they been blasted in a 
moment ; and how frequently, when surrounded 
with dangers and difficulties, has relief been 
afforded, in a moment, and in a way apparently 
the most, hopeless, and when it could the least 
have been expected. 

" All this so happens that we may learn to 
fear, and feel our dependence on Him ' who 
speaks and it is done, who commands and it 
stands fast, who bringeth the counsel of the 
heathen to nought, and maketh the devices of 
the people of none effect.' What can therefore 
be expected, but that he who is continually 
prying into futurity, and practically denying 
the government of God, should be miserable, 
either by anticipating evils which, shall never 
come, or by indulging hopes which shall be 
disappointed. He has no other way of calcu- 
lating what will be, but by present appear- 
ances, which experience proves to be extremely 
fallacious. To-day we may have the most 
flattering prospect, and to-morrow the very 



34 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



reverse. At one moment cherishing the most 
dreadful apprehensions of approaching hard- 
ships, and the next pleasing ourselves with the 
prospect of happiness — and perhaps both these 
at a time when they were never further from 
us. Hence, when we should be preparing our 
hearts for the trials of adversity, we are fre- 
quently dreaming of ease and prosperity ; and 
often, when we have reason to praise God for 
the mercies which he is about to pour out 
upon us, we are fretting and murmuring at the 
hardness of our lot. Thus, by looking too far 
forward, we neglect our present opportunities 
and duties ; such conduct is certainly unwor- 
thy of a disciple of Christ, and contrary to the 
command of his Master. 

" It is contrary to His will that his followers 
should make their passage through this life more 
dark and unpleasant, through the apprehension 
of troubles, than he has made it by troubles 
themselves. Their duty is to give all diligence 
in the performance of present duties, and to 
leave the care of futurity to Him who is the 
disposer of every event. 

" Thus, it is expressed, 1 Seek ye first the 
kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all 
other things shall be added unto you.' " 



SAMUEL CEOTHERS. 



35 



CHAPTER II. 

" Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." 

Haying completed his prescribed course in 
the Theological Seminary, at New York, Sam- 
uel Crothers returned, in the summer of 1809, 
to his home in Kentucky, and on the 9th of 
November, the same year, was licensed as a 
Probationer for the Gospel Ministry, by the 
Associate Eeformed Presbytery of Kentucky. 

The following year was spent by him in mis- 
sionating among the newly formed congrega- 
tions in Kentucky, Ohio, and in the North- 
Western Territory, as far west as the Kaskaskia 
river, Illinois. At that early period missiona- 
ting was a much more difficult enterprise than 
at the present time. Instead of passing from one 
point to another, in a few hours, reclining on a 
soft-cushioned railroad car, days had to bo 
spent on horseback, in an uninhabited wilder- 
ness, with scarcely a foot-path, or a fingerpost 
to direct the way. Then "Western missionaries 
knew what it was to " endure hardness," as 
they sought to serve God, in the Gospel of his 
Son. But doubtless they were well repaid for 



36 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



their labor, by the kind welcome, and earnest 
attention to the preaching of the truth, which 
these early Christian "Western pioneers are 
represented as giving. 

The profession of Christianity not being so 
fashionable a thing as at present, those who 
were found professing it were Christians in 
"deed and in truth," Christians who could 
relish a full meal of spiritual food, and would 
not complain if your sermon was over an hour. 

That Mr. Crothers was very acceptable as a 
preacher is evident from the fact, that within 
a year of his licensure he received two calls, 
one from the Hopewell Congregation, near 
Oxford, Butler county, Ohio., the other from the 
united congregations of Chillicothe and Hop 
Eun, Eoss county, 0. The latter he accepted, 
and was ordained and installed by the Pres- 
bytery of Kentucky, as their Pastor. 

He retained the pastorate of the united con- 
gregations a little over two years, and then, 
having resigned his charge of the Chillicothe 
congregation, he gave all his time to Hop Eun, 
in the immediate neighborhood of Greenfield, 
where he was destined to spend the greater 
portion of his useful life. 

How deeply the truths presented in his first 
lecture were impressed upon his mind, is evi- 
dent from the fact, that he willingly resigned 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



37 



the Chillicothe branch of his charge, to give 
that of Hop Bun all his time, on a salary of 
two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, at a 
period when provisions were equally as high 
as at present. 

How he managed, on such a sum, to put into 
practice the rule he was ever ready to give to 
others, viz.; " never get in debt, and thus be 
tempted to sacrifice your independence," can 
scarcely be explained, and yet it was no less 
true. Often have we heard him dwell, with 
much feeling, on the duty of Christian minis- 
ters avoiding debt, especially to members or 
adherents in their own congregations, lest, 
insensibly, they might be led to cease their 
work of " rebuking and improving." His ad- 
vice always was, that ministers should, like 
Elisha and the sons of the prophets, if neces- 
sary to the maintenance of their temporal, 
much more their moral independence, " borrow 
an ax, hew down logs, and build a cabin in 
some secluded spot." II. Kings, vi. 1 — 6. 

About the time of Mr. Crothers' settlement 
at Chillicothe and Hop Bun, viz., in 1810, the 
subject of providing for the Church an improved 
version of the Psalms was introduced into the 
General Synod of the Associate Beformed 
Church, and, for the time, was disposed of by 
the appointment of a committee u to procure 



38 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



an improved version of Scriptural Psalmody, 
and report at next meeting of Synod." 

The following year the subject of " Intercom- 
munion " was also introduced, in consequence, 
chiefly, of the fact that Dr. Mason and members 
of his congregation had held communion with 
the congregation of Dr.' Borueyn, in whose 
house they were at the time worshiping, until 
their own church could be finished. Other 
pastors beside Dr. Mason were implicated in 
this matter, and a resolution was introduced 
censuring those brethren who had thus com- 
muned in a congregation of a sister denomina- 
tion. It was, however, lost by a vote of 13 to 
3. Another resolution was introduced, vir- 
tually allowing brethren to use their own 
Christian discretion in such matters, and was 
carried by a vote of 16 to 3, clearly showing 
what were the principles of the Associate Ee- 
formed Church, in 1811, on this question, which 
so soon after greatly agitated her. 

It is proper, however, to state, that at this 
decision of the General Synod there was much 
dissatisfaction, especially within the bounds of 
the particular Synod of Scioto, of which Mr. 
Cr others was a member. 

From various presbyteries, and among these 
the Presbytery of Kentucky, of which he was 
also a member, remonstrances were presented to 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



39 



next General Synod, against sanctioning com- 
munion with the General Assemby Churches. 
These remonstrances were referred to a com- 
mittee, with instructions to report the following 
year, on " the doctrine of Church Fellowship," 
and thus it was, from year to year, no definite 
conclusion, further than that already noticed, 
having been arrived at. 

The subject being thus kept before the peo- 
ple, almost every congregation contained two 
parties : one that claimed they were adhering 
to the good old way; the other in favor of prac- 
ticing what they believed to be the truth, 
whether it could be denominated the good old 
way or not. Thus troubles were generated, 
and suspicions excited, and the congregation 
of Hop Run did not escape the contagion ; in 
consequence of which 3Ir. Crothers was led to 
resign his charge of it, in the year 1818, after 
being nearly eight years its Pastor — five years 
of which he labored among them his whole 
time. " Behold, how great a matter a little fire 
kindleth." Had Dr. Mason, with his congre- 
gation, not been induced to worship in Dr. 
Eomeyn's church, while their own was being 
prepared, the question of intercommunion 
would not probably at that time have disturbed 
the Church. How careful should individ- 
ual Christians, and much more sessions and 



40 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



congregations be. to act in such a way that 
no stumbling-blocks may be put in the way 

of others. 

Having resigned his charge he removed to 
Winchester, Kentucky, where, in addition to 
preaching, he taught in an academy. While 
here he changed his ecclesiastical connection 
by connecting with the General Assembly 
Presbyterian Church. And before noticing 
the reason of this change, vre deem it proper 
to give a statement of his views on those two 
questions which we have noted — as greatly 
agitating the Associate Eeformed Church at 
that time ; and since these questions have yet 
lost none of their importance, but continue 
still to be subjects of discussion — bones of 
contention and subjects causing division in the 
Church, we deem it proper to give a fair and 
candid statement of the positions assumed by 
the various parties : 

And first, concerning the question of Psalm- 
ody. As far as we have been able to ascertain, 
three positions seem to have been assumed on 
this question. 

The first is. that in the exercise of that lib- 
erty wherewith Christ makes his people free, 
we have a right to use as matter of our praise, 
songs of human composition, if in accordance 
with truth ; and that such songs, composed 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



41 



under the light of the Xew Testament dispen- 
sation, are preferable to a poetic version of the 
Psalms of David. 

The reasoning in support of this opinion is 
chiefly as follows : 

First. The commands to sing psalms, hymns, 
and spiritual songs, in Eph. v. 19, and Col. iii. 
16, refer to the songs which "the early Christ- 
ians were accustomed to sing to Christ, as to 
God," and not to the Psalms of David. 

Second. If those expressions did refer to the 
Psalms of David, it would not prove that no 
others should be used. 

Third. It is evident from the expression in 
reference to the members of the church at Cor- 
inth, u every one had a psalm," that psalms 
were abundant among them, as the production 
of the spiritual gifts of the disciples. 

Fourth. The hymns used in the worship of 
God, were appealed to, in the second and be- 
ginning of the third century, in proof of the 
incarnation and divinity of Christ ; hence they 
must have been hymns of human composition, 
else it would have been referring to the Bible 
itself. 

Fifth. The large majority of the Churches 
since the reformation have used hymns of 
human composition. 

Sixth. Christ approved of the song of the 
4 



42 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



children in the temple, and it is not found 
among the collection in the Old Testament. 

Seventh. The name of Jesus does not occur 
in the Psalms of David, and yet we are com- 
manded "By Mm" to offer a sacrifice of praise 
to God continually, that is, " the fruit of our 
lips giving thanks to his name." — Heb. xiii. 15. 

Eighth. The Gospel dispensation is a dispen- 
sation of the Spirit, a formal observance of a 
command is not always required ; hence admit- 
ting that the commands in Eph. v. 19, and 
Col. iii. 16, refer to the Psalms of David, yet 
the command is complied with, in spirit, which 
is sufficient, if any psalmody is used which is 
in accordance with truth. 

These are the chief propositions used in favor 
of what we have noticed as the first position 
assumed on the Psalmody question. We have 
endeavored honestly to state them. The ar&u- 
nients for and against them will suggest them- 
selves to our readers or they may be found in 
any work advocating the use of hymns. 

The second position assumed on this subject 
is, that since Christ is the sole law-giver to his 
Church, he alone has power to appoint the 
ordinances to be observed, in his house, and 
prescribe the mode and matter to be used in 
his worship, and that he has appointed the 
Scripture psalms to be so used, to the end of 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



43 



time, and that "the rich variety and perfect 
purity of their matter" make them admira- 
bly suited for this end. Hence none other 
can be used, without great presumption, in 
worship.* The reasoning in support of this 
position, is generally in support of the follow- 
ing propositions : 

First. The title of the book, and the fact that 
it contains some songs in other parts of Scrip- 
ture, and leaves out others, thereby making 
it a collection — a collection made under the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and appointed to 
be used as matter of praise under the old dis- 
pensation from Ezra downward. 

Second. The apostle's injunction, Eph. v. 19, 
and Col. iii. 16, makes it our duty to use as mat- 
ter of praise that to which he refers — but he 
refers to the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs 
contained in the book of Psalms. 

Third. There is no collection of hymns fur- 
nished in the New Testament, nor any direc- 
tions for making one, and the one furnished 
under the old dispensation has not been ren- 
dered useless by the repeal of the appointing 
statute, by its own limitation, the circumstances 

* The friends of this proposition do not oppose the use 
of hymns of human composition except in ivorship. They 
would use them, and do use them, as they use uninspired 
prose writings, for the cultivation of piety. 



44 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of its appointment, or its want of adaptation 
to the present time. 

Fourth. The nature of praise is such, that 
inspired matter is requisite to the proper per- 
formance of the duty. 

Fifth. The members of the apostolic churches 
would not be well prepared for composing mat- 
ter of praise to God, the majority of them being 
lately converted from idolatry. 

Sixth. The Jews being accustomed to the 
use of the inspired collection, would have op- 
posed the introduction of any thing else. 

Seventh. To use any other is preferring the 
work of man, to the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Eighth. All other hymn-books are sectarian, 
this alone belongs to the one catholic Church. 

Ninth. TTe can not be sure that any other 
hymn-book, is free from errors. 

Tenth. We have no command to make psalms, 
hymns, or spiritual songs, for the worship of 
God, nor any hint that such power is given to 
the Church. 

It is not our purpose to present any argu- 
ment on either side of the question, we merely 
state the positions of the different parties, refer- 
ring to their own publications for argument in 
defense of these positions, and if we fail in 
stating these positions correctly, we are sure 
the fault will not be intentional. 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



45 



The third position assumed is the one long 
advocated by the subject of our memoir, viz : 
That the book of Psalms once appointed by 
God to be sung in his worship, is every way 
suitable for that purpose under the new as well 
as under the old dispensation, yet other hymns 
if in accordance with truth, may be used accept- 
ably, and without thereby throwing any disre- 
spect on the book of the Psalms. 

Probably he had adopted this opinion from 
Dr. Mason at the theological seminary, although 
for some time after he did not feel it his duty 
publicly to advocate it; that it was held by 
Dr. Mason is evident from his practice. Indeed, 
judging from the following preamble and reso- 
lution and the vote thereon in the year 1811, 
in the General Synod of the Associate Eeformed 
Church, this opinion must have been very pre- 
valent then within her borders. It was moved 
by Messrs. Henderson and Dick — 

"Whereas it appears, that Dr. Mason, Messrs. 
Matthews and Clark, have joined in the ordin- 
ance of the Lord's Supper with the Presby- 
terian Church of North America, and whereas 
it also appears, that the Eev. John M. Ma- 
son has ministerially joined with said Church 
in the use of psalms, the composition of which is 
merely human, all which being contrary to the 



48 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



established order of the Associate Kefornied 
Church, and having a tendency to injure the 
cause of the Eedeemer, in their hands, therefore 

" Resolved, That the Synod do declare their 
decided disapprobation of the deportment of 
said brethren, and command them to return to 
the established order of this church." The vote 
stood, ayes, 3; nays, 13; silent, 2. 

The arguments used in defense of the posi- 
tion are the same as those used in defense of 
the position first stated, with the addition of a 
few analogical arguments, of which the follow- 
ing is an example : 

""We can read a passage of some evangelical 
work, or, as many pious people do during fam- 
ily worship, read, in addition to the chapter, 
Brown or Heniy's comments on it, without 
showing any mark of disrespect to the Word of 
God ; so, at certain times, we can use a hymn, if 
in accordance with truth, without in anyway 
throwing reproach on the psalms of Scripture. " 

The difference between the first and third 
positions is much greater than will appear at 
first sight. 

It is implied in the first statement, that a 
portion of the "\Yord of God is not now suitable 
for use as matter of praise, in the worship of 
God ; in the third the very opposite is asserted, 



SAMUEL CHOTHERS. 



47 



and thus its advocates are free from the charge 
of speaking lightly of any portion of the 
Scriptures. This will be the position ultimately 
taken by all the advocates of the first opinion. 
It is the position now held by nearly all the 
European Churches. 

The second question, which at this time 
agitated the Associate Eeformed Church, was 
that of " Intercommunion." And concerning 
this, also, we find that three opinions were 
advocated. 

TY~e have looked over various works on this 
subject, but have been unable to find any one 
passage we can extract as fully setting forth the 
position keld by any one party. We will, 
therefore, as accurately as possible, state what 
we conceive to be the positions held on this 
subject. And, first, it is held by one class, that 
inasmuch as the various evangelical denomina- 
tions are confessedly branches of the one catholic 
Church, membership in any one branch entitles 
to membership in the other; and to deny that 
privilege to members of any one denomination, 
is virtually unchurching that denomination. 

The following is the line of argument pur- 
sued to sustain this position : 

First. The body of Christ is one, and every 
member of it members of each other, being 
united together as parts of a whole. 



48 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



Second. " The members of this body have a 
common and inalienable interest in all the 
provision which God has made for its nutri- 
ment, growth, and consolation ; and that sim- 
ply and absolutely, because they are members 
of that body. Therefore, the members of the 
Church of Christ, individually and collectively, 
are under a moral necessity; i. e., under the 
obligation of God's authority to recognize each 
other's character and privileges, and conse- 
quently not to deny the tokens of such recog- 
nition." 

Third. We are under obligation to love as 
brethren ; but to say to those acknowledged as 
brethren, and members in a branch of Christ's 
Church, " You shall not have at the table where 
we sup, one crumb of the bread, nor one drop 
of the wine, which Jesus, both your Lord and 
ours, has given to you as well as to us," is, 
certainly, if 'not refusing to love, refusing to 
manifest it. 

Fourth. " The sacrament of the Supper is a 
sign and seal of the covenant of grace." " ISTow 
all believers, in all places in Christ's kingdom 
on earth, have their share in the mercies of 
that covenant; therefore all believers, having 
the thing signified, have a perfect right to the 
sign." 

The arguments in behalf of this position are 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



49 



very numerous ; we have presented a fair 
specimen. The next position taken, is, That 
none have a right to privileges in a particular 
congregation, but those who profess their faith, 
in the standards, and submission to the dis- 
cipline exercised by the denomination with 
which the congregation is connected. 

This position is supported by the following 
line of argument : 

First. Christ, as law-giver to his Church, 
has ordained certain laws, and made it the 
duty of office-bearers in his house to enforce 
these laws. Discipline has been appointed by 
him as a means of grace, but this discipline can 
not be carried out, unless each denomination 
confine the privileges of the church to its own 
members ; e. A member of a Presbyterian 
congregation adopts Arminian views, and not 
only propagates them, but holds up to ridicule 
certain portions of the Presbyterian Confession 
of Faith ; he is brought before his Session to 
answer for his conduct; he refuses to cease the 
work of defaming the standards of his own 
church, and is therefore suspended from privi- 
leges : the office-bearers of that congregation 
have declared that he, without repentance and 
reformation, is unworthy of the privileges of 
the church ; he leaves that communion and 
connects with a congregation of Methodists, 



50 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



and as a Methodist, according to the first posi- 
tion, he may enjoy the privileges of the church 
by which he was suspended — thus the end of 
discipline has entirely been defeated. 

Second. To extend the privileges of the 
church to members in other denominations, 
" destroys the force of the testimony which the 
members and officers of the church would oth- 
erwise be giving, in behalf of their distinctive 
profession, and of their sincerity in making it." 

Third. To extend privileges beyond the 
membership of the denomination, is at once 
giving up the principle, that the profession of 
a church, and its government and discipline, 
should be co-extensive. 

Much controversy has been carried on be- 
tween the supporters of the first, and the sup- 
porters of the second of these positions. No 
definite conclusion, however, has ever yet been 
arrived at ; neither party has yet yielded to 
the force of the other's logic, and probably 
never will. 

The third position assumed, is the one advo- 
cated, and throughout the greater part of his 
ministry acted on, by Samuel Crothers. We 
do not, however, claim that he was its origina- 
tor, for we are rather inclined to think it is as 
old as the times of the Apostles, and certainly 
it had able defenders among the Westminster 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



51 



Divines (see question 173, Larger Catechism). 
It is this : 

The li terms of communion " given by Christ 
to his Church, are, u a profession of faith and 
obedience to him, together with freedom from 
ignorance and scandal." Hence, all have a 
right to a seat at the table of their Master, who 
give evidence to the office-bearers of the con- 
gregation where they apply, of their freedom 
from ignorance and scandal, and signify their 
willingness to make a profession of faith and 
obedience to him. Office-bearers to be guided 
in their judgment, as to knowledge and scandal, 
by the Bible, understood in the sense set forth 
in their " Confession of Faith.'' 

The line of argument used in defense of this 
position is precisely the same as that used in 
defense of the second position. Its advocates, 
however, do not consider membership in an- 
other denomination evidence of scandal, and 
hence, if a member of another denomination 
should give satisfaction as to their profession 
of faith, knowledge, and freedom from scandal, 
they would admit him to privileges without 
his changing his connection. 

Dr. Crothers, acting on this principle, admit- 
ted to privileges in the congregation over 
which he- was pastor, all of every denomina- 
tion who gave this satisfaction ; but kept back 



52 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



all in his own denomination, as well as in 
others, who could not give this satisfaction to 
the office-bearers in his congregation — thus 
preserving the discipline of the Church in its 
purity, and, at the same time, £,/ a holy fellow- 
ship and communion in the worship of God," 
is maintained with all the faithful children of 
God. With these views, it is plain that Mr. 
Crothers differed from many of his brethren 
in the Associate Eeformed Church, but not 
more than he would with some in the Presby- 
terian Church. Why then did he change his 
ecclesiastical connection? And how is his 
change reconcilable with the fact, that he 
remained in the Presbyterian Church in after 
years, when he came to differ with many of his 
brethren in that denomination, on the questions 
of secret societies and slavery, more than he 
ever differed with the Associate Eeformed 
Church.* A proper answer to this question 
will, we doubt not, show the consistency of his 
conduct, and also enable us to understand the 
action of many others, which may have, at first 
sight, appeared anomalous. 

And first, viewing the various evangelical 

* We have preferred to answer this question by pre- 
senting the principles on which he acted, rather than by 
stating particular facts ; deeming the former more impor- 
tant, and less likely to be misconstrued. 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



53 



denominations as parts of the one catholic 
Church, the question — To which one should I 
attach myself, did I belong to none of them? — 
he considered properly answered in the follow- 
ing words : 

To that one where, I am conscientiously sat- 
isfied, I can most effectually promote the cause 
of truth. 

Second. If I am in connection with one of 
those denominations, when should I change 
that connection ? The question he considered 
correctly answered by the following : 

Just as soon as I am persuaded- 1 can more 
effectively serve the cause of Christ in another 
denomination. 

Third. Is not difference from the majority of 
your brethren, on certain points, sufficient 
reason for change of connection? This he 
would answer in the following words : 

No ! not always. Tet, difference with even a 
minority may be sufficient cause for change, if 
the difference is such as. you are satisfied, will 
impair your influence in your present connec- 
tion. But, if you are tolerated — that is, allowed 
freely to preach and practice what you believe 
to be the truth — and are not satisfied that you 
can better serve the cause of Christ in another 
connection, then, when differing even from 
a majority, you should continue faithfully 



54 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



discharging what you believe to be duty, and, 
at the same time, labor for the enlightenment, 
or reformation of those connected with you. 

If the principles stated in these three ques- 
tions are correct, and in accordance with the 
teachings of Scripture, and we believe this will 
not be disputed, then Dr. Crothers, in his 
change and non-change, acted perfectly con- 
sistent, and as it was clearly his duty to do. 

Often recurrence to the exhortation, "Let 
every man be fully persuaded in his own 
mind," would prevent many hard thoughts in 
reference to change of ecclesiastical connec- 
tion. Where secession takes place, and a new 
denomination is formed, there is always schism 
somewhere, either on the part of the majority, 
who refused to tolerate the minority, while 
they conscientiously discharged their duty ; or, 
on the part of the minority, who may have 
causelessly rent asunder the Church. 

But the change from one existing denomina- 
tion to another (provided it was not formed on 
schismatical principles), involved, not a ques- 
tion of schism, but a question of usefulness in 
promoting the cause of truth. And when that 
can be satisfactorily ascertained, duty is plain. 
The idea that it is always wrong to change 
one's ecclesiastical connexion is simply absurd. 

We trust the day will soon come, when it 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



55 



"will appear no more strange for a minister to 
receive a call from a congregation in a different 
branch of the Church from that with which he 
is connected, than it is to receive one from 
another congregation in the same connection. 

If the proposition is true, that a minister is 
not the servant of a particular congregation, 
but of the Church at large, and hence ought, 
for good cause, to be translated to a congrega- 
tion other than that over which he may at 
first be placed — and this we believe all the 
various denominations admit — it must be 
equally true, that called to the work of the 
ministry by the Head of the Church — the 
Head of the one catholic Church, and not 
merely of one branch of that Church — he does 
not belong to any one branch of the Church, 
but to the whole Church, and therefore ought 
to labor wherever it can be shown he can best 
subserve the interests, not of a particular de- 
nomination, but of the whole Church. It must, 
however, be borne in mind, that men will 
generally be found the most useful, in that 
denomination which they believe most nearly 
holds and practices the truth, yet not in every 
case. The stringent views of others, or the 
want of charity on the particular difference, 
in one denomination, may render the useful- 
ness of a minister less in that denomination 



56 



LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 



than in one where there are more points of 
difference, but at the same time more charity 
exercised toward those who differ. 

Before, however, these changes can be made, 
the confessions of faith, of the various denomi- 
nations must be such, that the party making 
the change can conscientiously subscribe them. 
For, if ministers are received into a denomina- 
tion without subscribing to its standards, then 
there is no possible way of long preserving the 
purity and discipline of the Church. Very 
little change, however, would be necessary, 
before the members of any branch of the Pres- 
byterian family could -subscribe to the author- 
ized standards of the other. The difference in 
practice, in some cases, is greater than the differ- 
ence in theory; while in other cases the prac- 
tice is the same, while the theory slightly differs. 

Most gladly do we bear witness to the fact, 
that this interchange is practiced between the 
Presbyterian Church (O. S.) and the Eeformed 
Dutch Church. 

A union, at least equally near with this, will 
be accomplished when Christ's prayer is an- 
swered : " That they all may be one — that the 
world may believe that thou hast sent me." 

Very nearly allied to this subject, and to us 
suggested by it, stands another, in which Dr. 
Crothers took much interest — one which he 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



57 



often talked of in private, as well as noticed in 
public discourse: viz., the fact, that office- 
bearers are the representatives, not of the 
people, but of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King 
and Head of the Church, and responsible to 
him alone for the performance of their duty. 

A theory, it is true, held by the whole Pres- 
byterian family, yet frequently forgotten, and 
were it only properly realized, less attention 
would be paid to find out what practices are, 
or will be popular, and more to what is the law 
of Christ. How much he detested the losing 
sight of this principle, will be seen by the fol- 
lowing extract from an article published by 
him, in a monthly periodical titled u The West- 
ern Peace-Maker," in the year 1839 : 

" We can not conclude this part of our sub- 
ject, without noticing some unseemly phrases, 
which have obtained among us, in reference to 
Church affairs. Instead of viewing the govern- 
ment of the Church as a theocracy, in which 
the Son of God is king and head ; and instead 
of viewing him as the sole fountain of power, 
and instead of viewing the officers of the 
Church, as representing him, in whose name 
and by whose authority they act, we often hear 
from grave Doctors of our Republican form of 
Church government — the people are the fountain 
of power and the elders are the representatives of 



58 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the people. And in perfect keeping with such 
views, if a decision is likely to be unpopular 
with those with whom we are connected, so 
that we are seized with a fit of cowardice, there 
is frequently a cry for a record of the yeas and 
nays — that our constituents may see how we voted. 
Now if elders are representatives of the people, 
so are ministers (contrary to 2 Chron. v. 20), 
for their officers are different branches of the 
same root. Did Cain represent Abel? Was 
Abel the fountain of Cain's power ? 

" The true account of the origin of these 
things is not flattering. We have so long been 
accustomed on the day of. our national anniver- 
sary, to shout, that the people are the fountain of 
power, and riders are the representatives of the peo- 
ple — and to hoast death and destruction to kings — 
that we have at length, incorporated such 
phrases with our ecclesiastical creeds. We 
hope the day is far distant, when such ravings 
will be incorporated with our devotional exer- 
cises. Should Presbyterian ministers or elders 
ever be so consistent with such a creed, as on 
their knees to tell the King of Zion that not 
he but the people are the fountain of power — 
that in their official doings they represent not 
him but the people — Presbyterianism will have 
lost its savor, and perhaps it will be another 
name for blasphemy." 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



59 



CHAPTEE III. 

" Feed the flock of God." 

A large number of the members of the As- 
sociate Eeformed congregation of Hop Eun, 
Mr. Crothers' former charge, wishing to change 
their ecclesiastical connection, sent an invita- 
tion to him to return to Greenfield and be their 
pastor, as a congregation in connection with 
the Chillicothe Presbytery of the Presbyterian 
Church. This invitation he accepted, and 
returned to Greenfield in the year 1820, organ- 
ized a congregation in the above connection, 
and remained their pastor until his death — a 
period of thirty-six years. The fact that his 
pastorate continued so long, in these times of 
change, is in itself no small proof of his success 
as a minister of the Gospel, and if more were 
wanting, we have it in the number admitted 
by him for the first time to privileges, being 
no less than four hundred and twenty-eight ; 
and also in the influence wielded by him, not 
only over his own congregation, but also over 
a large section of country surrounding the 
place of his abode. Much deference was paid 



60 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



to his opinion, not only on theological, but also 
on moral and political subjects, by all classes 
of society. 

He was himself well aware of the extensive 
influence which he wielded, but it in no degree 
tended to produce feelings of pride or self- 
importance. If the subject were incidentally 
noticed, he would refer to it, as the result of 
his peculiar style of preaching. 

This, indeed, was its chief source, and we are 
persuaded that no better plan can be discov- 
ered for increasing ministerial influence, than 
just to adopt Mr. Crothers' mode of pulpit 
ministration. 

He was much opposed to amusing a congre- 
gation with fine-spun theories, or rainbow pic- 
tures, which pass out of the mind as soon as 
heard, and leave the people no wiser than 
before they heard the discourse, and certainly 
very little better. Neither did he much ap- 
prove selecting as the subject of a discourse a 
few words, even if they were a complete pro- 
position, much more did he reprobate motto 
preaching. He was fully persuaded that the 
most compact and logical reasoning on any 
subject, did not produce the impression on a 
promiscuous audience, that was produced by 
holding up before them, a truth taught in the 
Bible, in Bible language. Hence his plan was 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



61 



to select a number of verses as the basis of his 
remarks — then he would proceed from verse to 
verse, carefully holding up the idea presented 
by the sacred writer, to his auditory, until they 
could scarcely fail to see that whether it was 
pleasing to them or not, yet it was the truth 
there taught: then he would apply it to the 
consciences of his hearers, making it bear upon 
their peculiar circumstances and duties, with 
much propriety — then he would select the next 
idea, and so on, until the whole subject was 
exhausted ; thus he ' : taught the i^eojDle knowl- 
edge," and in doing so won their respect and 
confidence. 

His views entirely coincided with Dr. Porter 
of Andover, in reference to the effect produced 
by practicing this mode of preaching, and that 
his theory was correct, is abundantly verified 
in his own history. 

Although without the graces of the popular 
orator, yet his own congregation, after he had 
ministered to them more than thirty years, 
would rather hear him preach, than any of the 
noted orators of the day ; and this fact alone is 
sufficient evidence of the truth of his own and 
Dr. Porter's theory, which we here present, and 
bespeak for it a careful perusal from any can- 
didate for the ministry into whose hands this 
volume may fall. 



62 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



" There is one more consideration from which 
I would urge on ministers the importance of 
instructive preaching, and that is, its tendency 
to promote the unity and strength of the 
Church. Its tendency is to make a people 
united in their minister. Personal attachment 
to a minister from his hearers depends on many 
things which can not be noticed here, but it 
fundamentally depends on their respect for 
him as their Christian instructor. The way 
for a teacher of mere children to stand high in 
the estimation of his pupils, is to create in them 
an ardent thirst for knowledge and then to 
instruct them. Even animals instinctively 
gather around him who gives them food, and 
when < the hungry sheep look up and are not 
fed,' they have but little regard for their shep- 
herd. If a minister would maintain the respect 
of his hearers, it is a maxim which I have no 
fear of repeating too often, ' Whatever else he 
does or neglects to do, he must preach well.' 

" But the union of a well-instructed people, 
is not mere attachment to their minister, it is 
grounded on an intelligent coincidence of views 
respecting Divine truth. 

" Ignorance is the parent of prejudice, and 
prejudice of mistake, and mistake of misrepre- 
sentation. Hence men often dispute fiercely 
respecting doctrines taught in the pulpit, 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



63 



because they have not even knowledge enough 
to be instructed. It was in this way that some 
of Paul's hearers slanderously reported and 
affirmed, that lie said, 1 Let us do evil that good 
may come.' Ignorance in religion leads to con- 
troversy. It makes men sanguine, censorious, 
querulous. Knowledge leads to candor, sobri- 
ety, docility, and I may add, to unity of senti- 
ment. The object of knowledge is truth, and 
truth being invariable, is a ground, so far as it 
is understood, of coincidence in opinion. Let a 
hundred men be perfectly instructed as to any 
given truth, whether in mathematics or his- 
tory, or religion, and so far as intellect is con- 
cerned, their views of that truth will perfectly 
coincide. Independently then of any wayward 
influence from passion and prejudice, which 
blind the understanding from the obliquities 
of the heart, good men will be agreed in reli- 
gion, just so far as they are thoroughly enlight- 
ened. On this ground it is reasonable to look 
for doctrinal disputes, and for all the mischiefs 
resulting from a controversial spirit, among a 
people who have either no religious instruc- 
tion, or only such as is essentially incompetent \ 
and equally reasonable to look for harmony of 
views under the ministrations of an able and 
faithful pastor. 

" It is on this ground, too, that we may look 



64 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



for strength in a church. Why must a divided 
church be a feeble one? Because among its 
members there is, not only a want of co-opera- 
tion, but there is counteraction. Division is 
always weakness, but the converse is not so 
invariably true. When we say that union is 
strength, meaning moral strength, we refer to 

a union predicated on knowledge 

And in any community, where union in reli- 
gious belief is founded on knowledge, it is 
strength. Christians, in such a case can give 
a reason for their faith and hope. Instead of 
implicit faith in some human oracle, or in some 
system of hereditary belief, like the noble Be- 
reans they search the Scriptures. Hence, in 
times of trial, they are ' steadfast and immova- 
ble, like men, and not, " like children," tossed to 
and fro, and carried about with every wind of 
doctrine.' Such Christians were the fathers of 
the E~ew England churches. Their solid piety 
grounded on an intelligent belief of evangel- 
ical doctrines, was a burning and shining light 
to the world around them. Such, I rejoice to 
say, have been their successors in many of these 
churches, to this day. I could point to honor- 
able examples of churches thoroughly taught 
the great truths of the Bible, who have stood 
the assaults of error in its most imposing forms 
— stood shoulder to shoulder, like an army 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



65 



with banners, and maintained unbroken ranks, 
while the fiercest onset from the enemies of 
truth could not shake their faith. I could 
point to mournful examples, of an opposite 
character, where a church has been so unfor- 
tunate as to live under a pastor who did but 
half preach the Gospel, and when that pastor 
died, perhaps even in his life, has become a 
prey to grievous wolves, entering in to devour 
the flock. Bitter animosities, and ruinous 
divisions have arisen, till a minority of the 
church have been compelled to withdraw from 
the sanctuary of their fathers, and set up the 
standard of the Gospel in another place." 

The philosophy of the truth here so well 
stated by Dr. Porter, is found in the constitu- 
tion of our nature. The little child who has 
all his curious questions solved by his teacher, 
thinks no one is so wise as that teacher, and 
this feeling produces confidence in whatever is 
affirmed by him ; and just the same principle 
operates as respects the ministerial teacher and 
his congregation — hence the influence of the 
pastor who feeds his flock with knowledge. 

But, not only does this style of preaching 
produce these highly beneficial effects upon 
congregations, it also largely benefits the pas- 
tors themselves. It compels them to study 
the Scriptures, the laws of language, Eastern 
6 



66 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



customs, etc., in order that they may be able to 
present the true ideas contained in the pas- 
sage ; and none can long practice this mode of 
preparation for the pulpit, without becoming 
" mighty in the Scriptures." On the other 
hand, if texts are constantly selected, ministers 
are liable to be tempted to rely on general 
knowledge, state propositions and reason on 
them in general terms, without reference to 
particular facts ; thus, while the reasoning may 
be correct, and may carry the judgment of the 
congregation at the time, yet no facts being 
presented, no passages of Scripture (except per- 
chance the text) being illustrated or explained, 
the people's knowledge is not increased, as it 
otherwise might be, neither is the pastor bene- 
fited by such preparation. True, this need 
not be the case ; a sermon from a text may be 
prepared in such a way as to benefit the one 
preparing it, as well as those for whom it is 
prepared; but there is much greater liability 
to fail in this particular, when short texts, 
instead of passages of Scripture, form the 
theme of remark. Hence, we cordially indorse 
the position of Dr. Crothers, u that lecturing 
on passages of Scripture is the best way to 
make a people mighty in the Scriptures." 

To this mode of preaching he was doubtless 
largely indebted for his knowledge of the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



67 



Scriptures — and his attainments in that res- 
pect have often been the theme of remark by 
competent judges. We are inclined to the 
opinion, that few so well deserved the title DJX, 
with which he was honored in the year 1841, 
by the Trustees of Miami University. A title, 
however, which he did not covet; and for some 
time after it was given he was much opposed 
to its being applied to him, on the ground that 
it tended to make distinctions among those 
who were brethren, and equal as presbyters. 

As to his style of pulpit oratory, we have 
little to say. He made no pretensions in this 
way, and on that account had to be heard 
oftener than once, before he was valued. A 
stranger, at first hearing, was generally in a 
degree disappointed ; his aw r kward gestures, 
the monotony of his voice, together w T ith a 
few homely phrases used by him, generally in 
the beginning of his discourse, produced rather 
a bad impression. But, after the first hearing, 
these things were generally unnoticed, the 
matter taking up the whole attention. And it 
could scarcely be otherwise, with his forcible 
presentation of truth contained in the subject 
on hand — the fact that he found truths in the 
passage which his hearers had never thought 
of being taught there, but as soon as men- 
tioned they would generally see that they were 



68 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



doubtless intended to be taught by the Holy 
Spirit. None, we think, could hear him, and 
not have some new idea presented or suggested 
by some remark. 

Two characteristics specially marked his dis- 
courses. First, The conciseness of his expres- 
sions, and the rapidity with which he would 
finish a subject, and hasten to another. Second, 
The earnestness with which he spoke to his 
hearers. 

It was said, by Dr. Andrew Thompson, of the 
eccentric Edward Irvine, that he considered 
his ideas too precious to be scattered with a 
profuse hand. Hence, he wrote in such a style, 
that "we are to feel the value of them by the 
trouble we are put to get at them." This was 
precisely the style which, more than any other, 
Dr. Crothers reprobated ; and if he had a fault 
in this respect, it was the other extreme, viz., 
conciseness of expression — the presenting the 
idea almost without a dress. Eobert Hall, 
speaking of Dr. Chalmers, says his preaching 
was like the turning of the " kaleidoscope." 
He would revolve the same idea, and present it 
before you in a new form, again and again. 
This has also, by some writer, been described 
as moving on hinges; and doubtless such a 
writer would have described Dr. Crothers as 
moving on wheels, such was his conciseness of 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



69 



expression, and the rapidity with which he 
disposed of a subject. 

Concerning his earnestness, it was not that 
" blood earnestness ' 5 attributed by ilason to 
Chalmers, but rather of the kind which John 
Brown, of Haddington, possessed, and which 
Hume well described, when he said, ;; That 
old man preaches as if Jesus Christ was at his 
elbow." 

But, that our readers may judge for them- 
selves, both as respects his style of writing, and 
his familiarity with and love for Divine truth, 
we here subjoin extracts from some lectures, 
delivered by him some years before his death, 
on the subject of " Infant Baptism,'' and also, 
extracts from his two largest publications — 
' : The Gospel of the Jubilee," and "The Life of 
Abraham." "We are the more constrained to do 
this, because, on account of their being pub- 
lished by an obscure publishing house, they 
did not obtain the circulation they, both from 
their own merit, and the importance of the 
subjects on which they treated, deserved. The 
first mentioned, originally published in 1839, 
has again been republished by the "'American 
Eeform Book and Tract Society," Cincinnati, 
1856, and doubtless will have a large cir- 
culation. 

The first of our extracts is from a sermon 



70 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



titled " The Identity of the Church," and has 
for its basis the thirty-eighth verse of the sev- 
enth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. "This 
is he that was in the church in the wilderness, 
with the angel which spake to him in the 
mount Sinai, and with our fathers : who re- 
ceived the lively oracles to give unto us." 

u That God had a Church, at least as far 
back as the clays of Moses, is proved by our 
text. ? The Martyr Stephen asserts that Moses 
was in the Church in the wilderness. The word 
ecclesia (church) signifies a body called out 
from the world, as Abraham was, for the wor- 
ship and service of God. The Hebrew word 
cahal (congregation) has the same meaning. 
That which the Jews called the congregation of 
the Lord, Christians call the Church of God. 
Thus (David says), Psalm xxii., 22, 'In the 
midst of the congregation .-will I praise thee;' 
and Paul, quoting his declaration, Heb. ii., 12, 
has it, i In the midst of the Church will I sing 
praise unto thee. 7 

" Thus, we have the best possible proof, that 
the Church to which believers now belong, is a 
continuation of that Holy Assembly which met 
at the door of the tabernacle, and which was 
separated from the court of the Gentiles by the 
middle wall of partition. 

" The marks of the true Church are : First, 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



71 



She has the true Gospel. Second, The sacra- 
ment appointed by her Head. Third, Govern- 
ment and discipline which separates her from 
the world. A community having these marks, 
has all the essential marks of the Church of 
God. 

" The church which Moses conducted through 
the wilderness had the true Gospel, ' Unto us 
was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them.' 
Heb. iv., 2. One of the doctrines taught in our 
text is. that God furnished the Church through 
Moses with the lively oracles. The Gospel of 
the Sinai covenant, is the sum of all the Gospel 
which God has ever revealed to our race. 
Christ, the apostles, or the prophets, preached 
no other. 

" The church which Moses was with, had 
the sacraments — holy ordinances of Divine ap- 
pointment, 'in which by sensible signs, Christ 
and the benefits of the new covenant are repre- 
sented, sealed and applied to believers.' 

" The ordinance of the passover, except the 
lamb roasted and eaten with bitter herbs, was 
substantially the same with the Lord's Supper; 
except the lamb, the elements are the same, 
viz : bread and. wine, the symbols of the body 
and blood of Christ. The same persons par- 
took of both, and unless we restrict its typical 
signification to the deliverance from Egypt, 



72 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the same exeroise of faith on Christ was re- 
quired. 

-The ordinance of circumcision sealed sub- 
stantially the same blessings as baptism. -It 

his seed. 

** The discipline which the Church of God was 
under before the coming of Christ, was calcu- 
lated to make it as holy as its discipline under 
the present dispensation. The truth is, the 
discipline of the Jewish Church, stripped of 
all that was typical, is the discipline of the 
Christian Church. 

*• The temporary exclusion of members on 
account of ceremonial uncleanness — such as 

who defile themselves with sin, ought to be 
excluded from the Church of Christ, until they 
give evidence that they have repented and have 
gone to the great High Priest for cleansing. 
The law respecting the kind of leprosy which 
required exclusion from the congregation, fur- 
nishes the officers of the Church now as well as 
formerly, a guide in the exercise of discipline. 
It was not every leprosy which rendered its 
subject unclean, but that which was deep-seated, 
etc. : so it is not everv sin which requires 



SAMUEL CROTHEKS. 



73 



suspension from the ordinances of Christ's 
house now. but those which are deeply seated — 
those having their origin in the lusts of the 
heart. Faithful Jewish rulers were as careful 
to exclude the impenitent and hardened trans- 
gressor from the privileges of the congrega- 
tion, as are Christian office-bearers now. TT"e 
repeat that the only difference in the discipline 
of the Church now, is that the death of Christ 
has stripped it of every thing typical. 

" The discipline of the Church under the 
Mosaic economy was the following : 

'-First. A credible evidence of a change of 
heart, was required of adult members of the 
Jewish Church. 

" When the prophet Ezekiel was sent to labor 
among the captives at Babylon, he enumerated 
among the sins for which the Lord had poured 
out his judgments upon them, the sin of making- 
no difference between the converted and uncon- 
verted — between the clean and the unclean in 
admitting to ordinances. — Ezk. xxii., 26. 

" This charge against the officers of the con- 
gregation of the Lord, is frequently brought 
up, and in such a manner as leaves no room to 
doubt, but that by clean and unclean are meant 
the converted and unconverted : < ye house 
of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abom- 
inations, in that ye have brought into my 



74 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



sanctuary strangers un circumcised in heart, 
and uncircumcised in flesh, to pollute it,' 1 Thus 
saith the Lord, no stranger uncircumcised in 
heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter 
into my sanctuary. 1 

u Second. Proselytes who could give credible 
evidence of a change of heart, were not allowed 
to enter into the congregation, until the third 
and fourth generation. — Deut. xxii. 

" With this fact before us, we see that the 
discipline under the old economy, was some- 
what rigid. 

" Third. Presumptuous sinners, i. e.. those 
who wilfully sinned in defiance of God, and the 
officers of his Church, were cut off from the 
congregation. — Xum. xv,, 30. 

" Fourth. Those who sinned through ignorance 
were publicly to confess their sin, or be cut off. 
According to the creed of some professed Christ- 
ians, there is no such thing as sins of ignorance. 
It is contended that if a person is sincere there 
is no violation of law. But according to the 
discipline of the ' Church in the wilderness,' 
ignorance itself is censured : - If a soul sin 
through ignorance, ... he shall bring his 
bullock to the door of the tabernacle of the 
congregation,' etc. — Lev. iv. 

" Fifth. A member of the Church who should 
connive at sin, in his neighbor, was to bear his 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



75 



iniquity : 1 If a soul sin and hear the voice of 
swearing, and is a witness whether he hath 
seen or known of it, if he do not utter them, 
he shall bear his iniquity.' The truth is, we 
can not conceive of a discipline better calcu- 
lated to make a pure church, than that given 
to the Jewish Church. 

" TVe have now seen that the distinguishing 
features of the Church of Christ, viz : the true 
Gospel — the sacraments and such government 
and discipline as separates the Church from 
the world, were found in the Jewish Church. 

" Again ; The prophets never predict the 
erection of the Church in the world. They 
never speak of the commencement of its exist- 
ence, as a future thing. Daniel in his vision 
(Dan. ii., 44) speaks of it being set up, but not 
in the Holy Land, but in regions where at that 
time it did not exist. 

" How shall we account for it, that the Old 
Testament writers seem to dwell with delight 
on the future events of the Church, her affec- 
tions, her prosperity, and triumphs, yet they 
never hint any thing concerning her commence- 
ment in the world. The reason is, it was not 
a future thing to any of them. Neither do 
writers of the ]\ T ew Testament prove its exist- 
ence or speak of it as originating in their days. 
They assumed its existence, and spoke of it as 



76 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



existing in the clays of the prophets, then Ste- 
phen spoke of it as existing in the days of Moses. 
The Holy Spirit, also, gives the Church, under 
both dispensations, the same names. What Da- 
vid calls the congregation Paul calls the Church ; 
and the angel Gabriel calls the Christian Church 
the house of Jacob (Luke i., 33). And certainly 
the matter is very clearly taught, in the para- 
ble of the wicked husbandmen. — Matt, xxi., 
33-43. Here Christ applies the parable by 
calling the vineyard which had been committed 
to the care of the Jews, the Kingdom of God, 
or the Church ; and states that it was about to 
be taken from them, and given to others, for 
the sin of not yielding to God the fruits re- 
quired of those who enjoy such privileges, and 
particularly for the sin of killing and stoning 
the prophets sent unto them, and finally, the 
Son of God himself. 

u A similar view is given of the Church, when 
the centurion who sought the healing of his 
servant, exercised strong faith in the Eedeemer. 
Jesus' reply was, 1 1 say unto you, I have not 
found so great faith, no not in Israel. And I 
say unto you that many shall come from the 
east and the west, and shall sit down with 
Abraham and Isaac in the kingdom of heaven, 
but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast 
out.' Here the Church, under the title of the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



77 



Kingdom of Heaven, is supposed to exist under 
both dispensations. The Jews — the children of 
the Kingdom, are supposed to have enjoyed the 
privileges which it secured to Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob, and their seed, until cut off because 
of unbelief, and numerous converts like the 
centurion grafted in. The identity of the 
Church under both dispensations, is assumed 
by the apostle Paul in Gal. iii., 23, and iv., 1-4. 
He also teaches the same doctrine. Eph.ii., 11-22, 
and speaks of the Church as the commonwealth 
of Israel, and of the Gentiles who were once 
alienated from it, being brought nigh, c Xo more 
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens 
with the saints and of the house-hold of faith.' 

" But. if the commonwealth of Israel ceased 
with the Jewish dispensation, the converted 
Gentiles must still be aliens from it. So, if the 
household of God, in which the saints, under 
the former dispensation, were citizens, has now 
no existence, how can those now admitted into 
the Church, be fellow-citizens with those saints 
in the household of God. 

u The next passage to which we shall appeal 
for proof of the identity of the Church under 
both dispensations, is Romans xi., 13 — 26. 
Here, the Church is compared to the body 
or trunk of the olive tree. The Jews were the 
natural branches, but were cut off for their 



78 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



unbelief, and the believing Gentiles were 
grafted in. And we are also taught, that 
when the Jews are brought to repentance, and 
faith in the Messiah, they will also be grafted 
in again. We defy any to interpret the pas- 
sage, on any other principle than that of the 
Church's identity, under the old and new dis- 
pensations. . . . From these considerations, 
we are authorized to infer, that the Church, 
which Moses led through the wilderness, and 
completely organized, by giving to her the 
lively oracles which he received from the hand 
of God, still lives. In every age she has under- 
gone changes. Death has removed individual 
members — many have been cut off for their 
unbelief, and unfaithfulness. But nothing has 
affected her identity ; she is still the same vine- 
yard—the same house of God — the same good 
olive tree, under all the different states in 
which she has been placed. Those who make 
a credible profession of faith, with their chil- 
dren, whether they be lineally descended from 
Abraham or not, are yet Abraham's seed. Such 
was the Church of God from the beginning." 

Our next extracts will be from the sermon 
which followed, in the order of delivery, the 
one we have already extracted from. It is 
titled, " Infant Church Membership, " and has 
for its subject Psalm cxxvii., 3; "Lo, children 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



79 



are a heritage of the Lord : and the fruit of the 
womb is his reward." 

u This is one of the fifteen Psalms entitled 
* Songs of Degrees.' They are supposed to 
derive their names from the fact, that they 
were favorites with the children of Israel, and 
therefore sung by them, generally, as they went 
up to Jerusalem on the appointed feast days : 
and in some respects this psalm would be very 
suitable for the occasion. The expression 
before us would calm their fears respecting 
their children left behind them — in many 
instances they were left in the neighborhood 
of fierce and cruel enemies, who would natu- 
rally be disposed to take advantage of the 
absence of the parents, at their solemn feast, 
to injure their estate, or children. Eut against 
this they had a promise, 'Neither shall any 
desire thy lands, when thou shalt go up to 
appear before the Lord thy God, thrice in the 
year.' < Lo, children are the heritage of the 
Lord.' Hence, from the day that Israel crossed 
Jordan, until they finally rejected the Messiah, 
they never were disturbed by their enemies du- 
ring their solemnities. In the commencement 
of the psalm, they are reminded, that the safety 
of themselves and families depended on the 
care of God ; and that without his care all their 
anxiety would be useless : 1 Except the Lord 



80 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



build the house, they labor in vain that build 
it.' And in our text he gives the reason why 
the children of his people are the objects of 
his care. 

" The leading doctrine of the text is, that the 
children of believers, as well as their parents, 
are part of the heritage, or Church of God. 
This doctrine was not only read from Moses 
and the prophets, in the synagogue, every Sab- 
bath clay, but also sung in their praises. It is 
the sum and spirit of the declaration of Christ: 
c Suffer little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom 
of God.' 

" We shall, therefore, endeavor to show, that 
the infants of believing parents have a right 
to membership in the Church ; and, of course, 
a right to baptism, by which membership is 
recognized. 

li No one can question the interest of the 
children of believers in the covenants made 
with Noah, with Abraham, and that given at 
Mount Sinai, and repeated in the plains of 
Moab. Deut. xxix., 10. If, then, the children 
of believers, under the Christian dispensation, 
are exceptions, we will surely find the fact 
clearly taught in the Word of God. 

" There are but two kingdoms in the world— 
the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS, 



81 



If, then, it shall appear that, from the begin- 
ning, they have enjoyed, by Divine right, the 
privilege of being with their parents, in the 
kingdom of which they were subjects ; if we 
have no command requiring us now to separate 
them, surely it must be wrong to do so. 

Ci That they had the right of being with their 
parents, is evident : First, From the covenant 
with Abraham. The apostle John, in considering 
membership in the visible and invisible Church, 
shows, that in order to the latter, we must he 
horn of God, and helieve in Ms name. But there 
are two ways in which we may become mem- 
bers of the visible church. First, by being 
born of the 1 flesh, or of the will of man ; ' in 
other words, by profession of faith. Second, by 
being 'born of blood;' that is, by natural 
descent. In the former of these ways Gentiles 
were brought into the Church ; in the latter 
way, the children of believers. Hence, accord- 
ing to the Abrahamic covenant, every child of 
a creditable professor, was to be circumcised 
on the eighth day. Being the child of a pro- 
fessor it was entitled to the same privileges, 
from this fact, that a Gentile was, by making 
a profession of faith. 

" In both cases, this ordinance was a token 
of the covenant — a token that its subject was 
under the operation and protection of the 



82 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



covenant with the £ father of the faithful' and 
his seed. It was also, to both, a seal of the right- 
eousness of faith; that is, the broad seal of 
heaven to the person, that God would, in due 
time, by sending his Son into the world, provide 
a righteousness to be received for justification. 
It was, also, the sign of regeneration, and sanc- 
tification of the spirit. 

" The child of Abraham, at the tender age 
of eight years, was most certainly the heritage 
of the Lord; and, if believers are now Abra- 
ham's seed, so must their children now be his 
heritage — and this is settled by the mouth of 
the apostle : 1 He received the sign of circum- 
cision, a seal of the righteousness of faith, 
which he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he 
might be the father of all those who believe, 
though they be not circumcised, that righteous- 
ness might be imputed to them also.' 'And 
the father of circumcision to them who are not 
of the circumcision only, but who also walk in 
the steps of that faith of our father Abraham.' 
Eom. iv., 11, 12. Again: 'If ye be Christ's, 
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs accord- 
ing to the promise.' 

" Second. We argue the right of infants to 
church membershij), from the Sinai covenant. 
We have the law on the subject, in the twelfth 
chapter of Leviticus. A man child was to 



SAMUEL CR0THERS, 



83 



remain with, his mother, in her uncleanness, 
seven days — thus the doctrine of original de- 
pravity was clearly taught — but on the eighth 
day he was to be circumcised, and thus acknowl- 
edged as a member of the visible Church, and as 
really under the operation of the covenant as 
were adult believers. The parent who neg- 
lected this duty was charged with sin ; and if 
he persisted in it, was to be cut off from the 
privileges of the congregation. Thus, it appears 
that dedicating their children to God, in an 
ordinance where they were recognized as part 
of his heritage, was not only a privilege, but 
also an imperative duty. 

" The fact, however, that membership in the 
Old Testament Church, was guaranteed to 
children of believers, is scarcely disputed by 
any, and this being proved, or admitted, 
we are furnished another argument from the 
entity of the Church. The Church under both 
dispensations we have already seen to be one, 
and the same, and also that a fundamental 
principle of her discipline was, that none were 
deprived of privileges, but for ' deep-seated 
sin.' 

" Casting a member out of the Church is called 
delivering to Satan. — 1 Cor. v., 5. It is there- 
fore an act of discipline, and intended to bring 
the individual to repentance. Why then should 



S4 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



discipline be brought to bear on the children 
of the Church, to their exclusion, unless it can 
be shown that they have forfeited this high 
privilege, by some act of uncleanness ? Has 
there been any change in the constitution of 
the Church warranting it ? 

" That neither Jesus Christ nor his apostles 
ever taught that infants were to be shut out of 
the visible Church, is evident from the fact, 
that no such objection was ever brought against 
their teaching. That such a privilege would 
be surrendered by Jewish parents without a 
murmur, or that infidel Jews would allow this 
innovation to pass unnoticed, is incredible. 
True, if such a command had been given, they 
would have submitted to it. but if it was given, 
surely those who oppose infant baptism, will 
be able to find it. and show it to others. 

" Indeed, both our Saviour and his apostles 
were careful to cut off any suspicion, that the 
privileges of either believers or their children 
were to be lessened by the Gospel dispensation. 
As far as children are concerned, the declara- 
tion of our Lord is clear and unequivocal — 
1 And they brought unto him also infants, that 
he would touch them, but when his disciples 
saw it. they rebuked them. But Jesus called 
unto them and said. Suffer little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not. tor of such 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



85 



is the kingdom of God.' — Luke xviii., 15-16. 
}s"ow take - Kingdom of Heaven' in whatever 
sense we please, the same thing would still be 
true. If the kingdom of Glory, then they are 
surely fit for membership in the church here, 
but if it mean, which we believe it does, the 
visible Church, then here is an end to the matter. 
To get rid of this argument we are told, that 
little children is a figurative term which means 
believers, then Christ would be teaching that 
the Kingdom of Heaven was to be composed 
of believers — a thing which was not disputed. 
Again, it is said, that the meaning is, that 
believers must be like little children ; now it is 
true, that believers are sometimes said to be 
like little children in some respects, for exam- 
ple, in freedom from malice (1 Cor. xiv., 20). 
Our Lord has also taught that. 1 Except ye be 
converted and become as little children, ye can 
not enter the kingdom of God.' But that by 
no means proves that the passage in question 
has anj' other than the natural meaning. 
Christians are commanded to ' be wise as ser- 
pents and harmless as doves.' But notwith- 
standing this, would it not have been very 
strange in Christ to have said { Suffer ser- 
pents and doves to come unto me and for- 
bid them not, for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven?' And yet, according to the theory 



86 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of interpretation we are considering, it would 
have been a perfectly correct expression. We 
are inclined to believe it was not of the kind 
used by Christ. 'No ! He was teaching a doc- 
trine known and believed from the days of 
Abraham downward, viz : that children have 
a right to a place in the same kingdom with 
their parents, and that they are equally proper 
subjects for the Saviour's blessings. 

Further. The apostle Peter, to inquiries pre- 
sented at his first sermon after the Pentecostal 
blessing, answered: ' Eepent and be baptized 
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is 
to you and your children, and to all that are 
afar off, even to as many as the Lord your God 
shall call.' Our argument will not in any way 
be affected by the question, what the promise 
is, to which the ajDOstle here refers — whether 
it be the Abrahamic covenant, ' I will be a God 
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,' or the 
promise of the Holy Ghost, the result will be 
the same. 

" The doctrine taught seems to be : First, 
If we would obtain pardon of sin and receive 
the gift of the Holy Ghost, we must repent and 
be baptized. Second, That the promise of God 
is the reason why the penitent, whether Jew 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



87 



or Gentile, ought to "be baptized. Third, That 
the seed of the penitent, whether Jews or Gen- 
tiles, are as really interested in the promise, as 
themselves. 

" All this the Jew could easily understand, 
it was taught in his nation from the time of 
Abraham. God was not only the God of the 
Jew but also of his child; and both had the 
same right to the seal of the covenant. 

" The apostle Paul also gives judgment in 
this matter : c The unbelieving husband is sanc- 
tified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is 
sanctified by the husband, else were your 
children unclean, but now are they holy.' It 
appears from the commencement of this chap- 
ter, that the church of Corinth had written to 
the apostle for his advice, respecting some diffi- 
culties in the church. Among other things 
they desired to know what was the duty of a 
believing husband or wife, whose partner re- 
mained a heathen. Some among them doubt- 
less supposed that unless the believer separate, 
he or she must be ' cut off.' 

(t The apostle decides, however, differently : 
' If a brother hath a wife, which believeth not, 
and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him 
not put her away ; and the woman which hath 
a husband that believeth not, and he be pleased 
to dwell with her, let her not leave him.' And 



88 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



then comes up the question, Shall their children, 
under these circumstances, be unclean, or holy? 
and the apostle answers — holy ! 

i: But what is the meaning of the expressions, 
£ holy, J and 'unclean'? Unclean occurs, over 
and over again, in connection with the privi- 
leges of the Old Testament Church. A person 
was in various ways made unclean ; the touch- 
ing of a dead body made him unclean ; and 
when unclean, he or she was not qualified for 
enjoying the privileges of the Church. The 
word holy, designates, first, some person, or 
thing, set apart for the service of God ; second, 
personal rectitude of character; third, the 
character requisite for serving God, in an 
acceptable manner. That it here means per- 
sonal rectitude, we think none will, for a mo- 
ment, assert ; it must therefore mean, either 
what is asserted in our first, or third definition, 
and if it does, then it certainly proves that they 
(the children of one believing parent) were 
proper subjects for church membership. 

" If both parents were heathen, then their 
children would be unclean, like other children 
of the world. But, in the case where one pa- 
rent is a professed believer, God requires his 
Church to lean to the side of mercy. The chil- 
dren are holy — they have a right to privileges 
and membership in the Church of God. Had 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



89 



it been usually known and admitted, that chil- 
dren in no case were holy, to ask the question 
would have been the extreme of folly. 

"Again. TTe argue the right of infants to 
baptism, from the fact, that it holds the place 
which circumcision formerly did. Both are 
initiatory rights — both signs of the covenant. 
They are, also, both seals of the righteousness 
of faith, and of regeneration. 

" Hence, all objections brought against bap- 
tism of infants, will equally apply to circum- 
cision, and none can deny but children were 
circumcised ; and most certainly they are just 
as fit subjects for baptism as for circumcision." 

The lecture which followed this, in the order 
of delivery, we find titled, " The Scriptural Mode 
of Baptism;" and from it we will now take a 
few extracts. It is founded on the passage in 
Heb. vi.j 1.2:" Therefore, leaving the principles 
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfec- 
tion, not laying again the foundation of repent- 
ance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 
of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of 
hands, and of the resurrection from the dead, 
and of eternal judgment. " 

"^Ye have selected this text on account of 
two suggestions which it contains. The first 
is, that those who content themselves with a 
knowledge of the plain elementary doctrines 
8 



90 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of the gospel, and neglect more important 
truths, starve their souls, and remain mere 
babes. The second, that baptism is one of 
those elementary truths, with which the most 
illiterate Jewish convert was well acquainted. 
It could not be otherwise ; for a similar appli- 
cation of water to that which the Holy Spirit 
calls baptism, was practiced repeatedly, every 
day, all over the land of Israel. And an apos- 
tle tells us, that baptism held a prominent 
place in the temple service. 

" The fact that water, in baptism, is used 
merely as an emblem, shows the absurdity of 
attaching great importance to the quantity 
used. Our Lord never told his disciples how 
much wine was necessary in the administration 
of the Supper. His language is, ' Drink ye all 
of it.' But what would we think of some one 
maintaining, that we must use a large quantity, 
and base his argument on the word drink. 
Yet this would be precisely the argument of 
those, who, from the word, contend for a large 
amount of water in baptism. We shall endeavor 
to show, that pouring, or sprinkling, is the 
Scriptural mode of baptism. And, 

u First, from the use of the term baptize, and 
baptism. And here we take the position, that 
the Scriptures, compared with themselves, are 
the only proper means of arriving at a correct 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



91 



opinion regarding controverted passages. To 
appeal to dictionaries, made by learned men, 
will not prove any thing : we have still to find 
out whether inspired writers used the words in 
their sense. The kingdom of God, and the 
kingdom of Satan, are very different kingdoms ; 
their language is different, and yet sometimes 
they use the same terms, but generally with 
quite a different meaning. For example, in 
Heb. ix., 9, 10, the words, £ gifts, meats, and wash- 
ings, 1 occur. jSTow, in the world, or the kingdom 
of Satan, a gift means something not required 
by law — something given voluntarily; but in 
the kingdom of God, it means a particular 
offering, required by law — and so with the 
other terms. It would, then, be as wise to take 
the common language of the world to explain 
the meaning of terms used in the Church, as to 
ask a Frenchman to explain some terms used 
in the streets of London. The ground held 
by the large majority of Christians, is, 'that the 
Holy Ghost, speaking in the Scriptures, is the 
supreme judge, in all theological controversies.' 
Our appeal, then, will be to the Bible. 

"And first, we have the word used in Mark 
vii., 4, 'And when they (the • Pharisees) come 
from the market, they eat not except they 
wash. And many other things there be, which 
they have received to hold, as the washing of 



92 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables.' 
And in Luke xi., 38 : 'And when the Pharisee 
saw it, he marveled that he had not. first 
washed before dinner.' Here the words wash- 
ing, and washed, would, properly enough, be 
translated baptizing, and baptized, and in both 
cases the idea of immersion would scarcely pre- 
sent itself to the mind. 

"Again. The Holy Ghost applies the same 
term (baptismos) to all those sprinklings, which 
were so important a part of the service of the 
temple from the days of Moses. In Heb. ix., 
10, Paul alludes to the sprinklings of the 
Mosaic economy, by the expression < divers 
baptisms. 1 

"Eow, the baptisms of the temple service 
were of two kinds. First, Baptism by appli- 
cation of blood. £ If the blood of bulls, and 
of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling 
the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the 
flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ,' 
etc. Again, 'When Moses had spoken every 
precept, to all the people, according to the 
law, he took the blood of calves, and of goats, 
with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and 
sprinkled both the book and all the people.' 
< Moreover, he sprinkled, with blood, both the 
tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.' 
The apostle here gives us samples of the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



93 



baptisms under the Mosaic economy, and, 
among other truths which they teach, we no- 
tice two : 

" 1. These baptisms were used in consecrating 
persons, or things which were to be holy to 
the Lord. Thus, all Israel, a little before the 
death of Moses, were baptized by sprinkling 
them with water, as well as with blood. Pros- 
elytes from the heathen were thus consecrated. 
Gen. xxxv., ^, compared with Numb, viii.; 24; 
see, also. Ezek. xxxvi., 25. Unclean persons, 
generally, by being sprinkled with water, were 
cleansed and restored to the house of God. 
Numb, xix., 18. 

11 2. That these baptisms were by sprinkling 
the water. Indeed, not one, of all the bap- 
tisms in the temple, to which the apostle applies 
the term, was by immersion. Even the conse- 
cration of the priests was not an exception. 
4 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons 
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congre- 
gation, and wash them with water.' Now we 
know, from Exocl. xx. 3 26, that the}' were not 
stripped of their clothes and washed. Besides, 
it appears that all the water used in the taber- 
nacle for washing, was contained in the brazen 
laver, at the foot of the altar. We are further 
told, that it was not for washing in, but thereat. 
It was required of Aaron and his sons, every 



94 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



day, 1 when they go into the tabernacle, that 
they wash with water.' Exod. xxx., 20. Now, 
if any say washing, here, means immersing the 
body, then he is contradicted by the preceding 
and following verses, where we are told that it 
means washing the hands and the feet, not in, 
but at the brazen layer. Indeed, we defy any 
one to show that, in a single instance, water 
was applied in the temple service, except by 
pouring or sprinkling; and yet the apostle 
Paul applies, to the mode in which water w r as 
there used, the name 'baptisms.' 

"The only immersions which the law re- 
quired, were done without the camp — not in 
the presence of a single individual, but pri- 
vately. Lev. xv., 5 ; xvi., 26. 

^ Second. We argue that sprinkling is pro- 
per baptism, from the symbolical meaning of 
the act. 

"What does water signify, when used as an 
emblem, in the Church? Types and symbols, 
in the Church, are as fixed in their meaning, 
as words in a language. Hence, if in one case 
we ascertain their true meaning, then we can 
apply it to every other case. Now water, 
from the beginning, was used as an emblem of 
the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit; we 
shall therefore show, that baptism with water 
is the symbol of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



95 



John the Baptist taught this : 4 I, indeed (says 
he), baptize you with water, unto rejoentance, 
but he that cometh after me is mightier than 
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to loose, he 
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 
with fire.' Here he distinctly taught the mul- 
titude, that his baptism with water was sym- 
bolical of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

" Our Lord taught the same doctrine. In 
alluding to the two baptisms, he tells Nicode- 
mus, 4 Except a man be born of water, and of 
the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom 
of God.' And in his last interview with his 
disciples, he said, 'John, truly, baptized you 
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost, not many days hence.' The refer- 
ence to their first baptism was to strengthen 
their faith in that to come, of which it was 
symbolical. Xeither John nor Jesus Christ 
had made the discovery of modern times, that 
baptism represents the burial and resurrection 
of the believer, with Christ. 

" This, too, was Peter's opinion. Thus, con- 
cerning his action at the house of Cornelius, 
he made the following declaration : - And, as I 
began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, 
as on us at the beginning. Then remembered 
I the word of the Lord, how he said, John, 
indeed, baptized you with water, but I will 



96 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



baptize you with the Holy Ghost.' Here the 
apostle quotes the words of Christ as proof that 
water baptism was symbolical of the baptism 
of the Holy Ghost. 

"Another argument is the fact, that often, 
by a figure, there is attributed to water baptism 
what is true only of the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost. Thus. Rom. vi., 3, the subject is, not 
baptism into the visible church, but into Christ, 
and not one item is true of those who have 
been baptized with water only, but of those 
who have been baptized with the Spirit, it is 
true. ZSTow, since pouring, or sprinkling is 
nearly always used to express the baptism of 
the Spirit, surely that thing which represents 
it, should be by pouring or sprinkling. 

" Third. TTe argue, that sprinkling is the 
proper mode of baptism, from facts in the his- 
tory of the Church. 

"And first we are told, John baptized at 
Enon. beyond Jordan, because there was much 
water there. Now, did he require this much 
water for baptismal purposes, or, in that East- 
ern clime, for the people who flocked to his 
preaching. If the former, then the apostles 
would necessarily, if they baptized as he did, 
have led the thousands, whom they baptized at 
Jerusalem in one day, out to some river. 
Either there was plenty of water found to 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



97 



baptize tliem as John did, without going to a 
river, or else they were baptized in a different 
way from John's converts. In the one case, 
John did not need to go to the river in order 
to have sufficiency of water for baptismal pur- 
poses. In the other, we have an example 
equally worthy of being followed with his, 
where they baptized differently. We care not 
which position is assumed. Our own belief, 
however, is that he selected that- place, that his 
congregation might find water convenient for 
themselves and animals. Be that as it may, 
the fact that he baptized where there was much 
water, does not prove that he immersed his 
converts ; the Greek particle proves no such 
thing, the expression in Jordan, might, with 
equal propriety, be translated, at Jordan. 

"Again, the three thousand who were bap- 
tized in the day of Pentecost : 1 Then they that 
gladly received the word, were baptized, and 
the same day there were added to the church 
about three thousand souls.' The ministers 
present were Peter and the eleven other apos- 
tles ; even had the c seventy' been present, they 
were not qualified to baptize, they were but 
temporary officers appointed by Christ to do a 
work which ceased with his death; they were 
not, however, present, < Peter (we are told) 
standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice.' 
9 



98 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



Then, passing by all the other improbabilities 
of the ease, at the rate of one baptism every 
three minutes, which is as fast as an} T man can 
immerse, it would take the twelve apostles over 
twelve hours to baptize the three thousand, 
they must have therefore, at the very least, 
continued uninterruptedly until midnight at 
their work, and then it would not have been 
true according to the mode in which the Jews 
compute time, that the three thousand were 
added to the church the same day, 

"iNext we have the case of the Ethiopian 
eunuch, Acts viii., 38 : £ And he commanded the 
chariot to stand still, and they went down both 
unto the water' It seems from the expression 
that the ordinance might have been adminis- 
tered without their going down to the water. 
Had the eunuch been such a man as was 2sTaaman, 
when he came to the prophet to be cured of 
his leprosy, probably he would have made his 
servant bring up some water, or have allowed 
Philip to do so himself. But this was not his 
disposition, he felt differently and so accom- 
panied Philip to the water, and was baptized; 
but we find nothing in the circumstances to 
make us believe that he was immersed. 

"Next, Saul of Tarsus, Acts ix., 18: 'He 
received sight forthwith, and arose and was 
baptized.' ISTothing here about a river and 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



99 



immersion ; doubtless 1 he arose, and was bap- 
tized.' And the last Ave will notice, is the case 
of Cornelius and his friends, Acts x., 44-48, 
together with the jailor and his family at Phil- 
ippi. In the first case, Peter said, 1 Can any 
forbid water that these may not be baptized?' 
And this certainly implies, that he expected 
water to be brought to him. And if so, then 
he did not intend that he should be immersed. 
Concerning the latter, they were baptized the 
same hour of the night in which Paul and Silas 
had their stripes washed, and no intimation is 
given that they required much water. On the 
whole, we conclude that sprinkling is the proper 
mode of baptism — most consonant to the bap- 
tisms under the old economy, and to its type, 
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and on this 
princij)le the facts in the history of the Church 
can most easih^ be explained."* 

AVe proceed now to give our promised ex- 
tracts from the " Gospel of the Jubilee"' : 

The " Gospel of the Jubilee" was intended to 
be an " explanation of the typical privileges, 



* Here our extracts end, and we deem it proper to say 
that, on account of the difficulty of reading his manu- 
scripts, we have sometimes been obliged to put the sen- 
tence into our own language, as also to throw in connecting 
phrases. But we believe we have introduced no idea not 
found in his manuscript. 



100 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OT 



secured to the congregation of pious strangers, 
by the atonement on the morning of the jubi- 
lee.'' and written in the form of a lecture, on 
Lev. xxv., 9—46. In writing it he had a two- 
fold purpose in view. One was to snatch from 
the supporters of slavery, an argument (false 
though it be. yet employed by them with some 
effect) in support of a system which (says Dr. 
C. in his introduction) "for injustice and cru- 
elty has no parallel in the history of the world." 
The other was to show : - that the Jubilee was 
intended to exhibit, typically, the doctrine of 
the atonement : and some of those important 
truths connected with it. which saved sinners, 
have been living on. from the beginning/ 1 And 
this being accomplished, as he very properly 
states, it would at once be evident that it 
afforded no more encouragement to either the 
African or American slave-trade, than did the 
" Lord's Supper,'' or any other means of grace. 
In conducting the discussion of this subject, one 
all-important inquiry is. •'■How shall we know 
what things are typical and what those things 
are of which they are types ?' ? otherwise there 
would be no certainty in the truth of any one 
interpretation. 

To determine this, three rules, among others, 
were chiefly used by Dr. Crothers : 

First. Those persons and things he considered 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



101 



types which were called shadows, examples or 
figures of things to come ; e. g.. Adam was 
called a figure of Christ. The priests, their 
ritual, together with the tabernacle and furni- 
ture, are called examples and shadows of heav- 
enly things. 

Second. Those things are types and anti- 
types which are found in combination, such as 
naturally to suggest the idea of intended rep- 
resentation. Thus we have no doubt of Canaan 
being a type of heaven. 

Third. Those persons and things are types 
and antitypes, when the name of the one is 
transferred to the other. Thus David was a 
type of Christ, for Christ was frequently spoken 
of by the name David. 

" With these and other rules, we have only 
to turn to the Hew Testament, by the help of a 
concordance and marginal reference, to find 
that in the death and intercession of our Lord, 
we have the true (i. e.. the antitypical) atone- 
ment ; that the preaching of the Word by the 
Son of God or the heralds of his cross is, the 
blowing of the trumpet : that the liberty fol- 
lowed by a year of rest, prefigured the release 
of the servants of Jesus Christ from their mas- 
ter's work on earth, to the enjoyment of rest 
with him in heaven; that heaven is the true 
inheritance of our elder brother, and of all who 



102 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



are joint heirs with him. and that the privilege 
which the typical atonement secured to land- 
holders and pious strangers, of living as masters 
and servants, was the presage of the glorious 
privilege to be proclaimed in isew Testament 
times to the whole Gentile world, of becoming 
servants of our elder brother, Jesus Christ." 

After thus giving a statement of what he 
considered taught by observances connected 
with the year of jubilee, he notes the fact that 
"the jubilee was ushered in by the atonement." 
The name in which it was made, is described 
Lev. xvi., 5-19. There the idea is clearly pre- 
sented, that not only was the slaying of the sac- 
rifice necessary, but also the sprinkling of the 
blood of the victim on the u mercy-seat " in the 
Holy of Holies, in order to the effecting of a 
reconciliation, or in other words, the making 
of an At-one-ment. On this Dr. Crothers has 
the following remarks : 

" According to the notion entertained by 
many respecting the atonement and reconcilia- 
tion, the work was finished as soon as the high 
priest had slain the victim and burned its body 
with fire. Had he done nothing more, how- 
ever, neither the congregation nor the altar, 
nor any part of the house of God, would have 
been reconciled. It was the using of the blood 
in the way prescribed in behalf of the person 



SAMUEL CR0THER3. 



103 



or thing to be reconciled, which made the 
atonement. Throughout all the regulations 
given to the sons of Aaron, in all their sacri- 
fices, this idea is distinctly held up. The mere 
fact of the death of Christ never reconciled a 
sinner to God, nor, strictly speaking, atoned 
for the sins of a single individual. When he 
died, he offered the great sacrifice, without 
which there could be no reconciliation. But 
it is when, as our advocate or intercessor, he 
applies his blood, or presents it before the 
Father, in our behalf, that we are reconciled. 
Hence, the apostle stakes his ability to save on 
the fact, that ' he ever liveth to make inter- 
cession for us.' 

" The man, therefore, who scoffs at an inter- 
cessor, and at all who tell sinners that they 
must, by faith, apply to Jesus to intercede for 
them, while he insists that the mere death of 
the Saviour will take all men to heaven, is not 
the advocate of a universal atonement ; he is 
the advocate of a universal salvation, without 
any atonement at all. When Jesus died on the 
cross, and thus shecl his blood for sinners, the 
Scriptures represent him as having sanctified 
himself with his blood, that he might save 
them — as having perfected himself, through 
sufferings, as the captain of salvation, that he 
might bring many sons unto glory — as having 



104 



LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 



furnished himself with the means of reconciling 
all who should believe, and of preparing for 
them mansions in heaven. TVhen the high 
priest had slain the goat, for a sin-offering, and 
had burnt its body with fire, an important part 
of the work of atonement was finished, but an 
important part yet remained to be done — the 
sprinkling of the blood. To reconcile, at once, 
the congregation and the sanctuary, the type 
of heaven, ' The high priest was to appear 
before the ark, bearing the names of the chil- 
dren of Israel in the breast-plate of judgment, 
upon his heart.' He was to 'put the incense 
(the emblem of the Saviour's merits, presented 
by prayer) upon the fire, before the Lord, that 
the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat, 
that is upon the testimony that he died not.' 
And he was to ' take of the blood of the sin 
offering, and sprinkle it with his finger upon 
the mercy seat, eastward ; and before the mercy 
seat shall he sprinkle of the blood seven times.' 
Thus God's controversy with his people, on 
account of their sins, and his controversy with 
the holy sanctuary, on account of its connec- 
tion with a sinful people, was removed. Thus 
they were reconciled, thus an atonement was 
made for them. 

" This work of the high priest was the type 
and pledge of what the true advocate, or high 



SAMUEL CROTHEKS. 



105 



priest, wag to do in heaven, to reconcile believ- 
ers, and prepare for them mansions there. It 
vras the pledge that he should appear there 
before his Father, with their names upon his 
heart, and present the blood of his own sacri- 
fice in their behalf, and thus remove all 
grounds of controversy vrith them, and with 
heaven on their account. 

"On the day in which the atonement was 
made, the trumpet of the jubilee was to be 
sounded throughout all the land. Lev. xxv.. 9. 
Typical (according to rule 3d) of the procla- 
mation of the Gospel, by the ambassadors 
of Christ, under the new dispensation. The 
command to preach the Gospel, plainly and 
fearlessly, is 'set the trumpet to thy lips.' 'lift 
up thy voice like a trumpet.' Ministers of the 
Gospel are symbolized (Eev. viii., 8 — 12) by 
angels sounding with their trumpets. The fact 
that this instrument was the type of so import- 
ant a means of salvation, accounts for the par- 
ticularity with which its formation and use 
are regulated ; and the allusion to it for the 
use of Gospel heralds, in the duties of their 
office, and the joains with which the miracles 
accompanying the use of it are recorded in the 
Old Testament. They are recorded as presa- 
ges of the future triumphs of the Gospel. 

"A considerable portion of the tenth chapter 



106 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of the book of Xumbers is occupied with direc- 
tions respecting this holy symbol. : Make thee 
two trumpets of silver ; of a whole piece shalt 
thou make them.' etc. 

" In the ceremony of blowing the trumpet 
over their burnt offerings and sacrifices, we 
have a definition of that kind of preaching 
which the Lord will bless to the salvation of 
sinners. That in which Christ crucified is 
the prominent theme — that which brings the 
atonement to bear against every sin in the land 
— that which holds up the great truths, typi- 
fied in all their burnt offerings and sacrifices, 
on all occasions, and especially in the morning 
of the day of atonement, and of the Jubilee, in 
blowing the Gospel trumpet. 

The meaning, then, of causing the trumpet 
to s.'imd throughout all the land, proclaiming 
that the atonement was made, and that the 
privileges secured by it. to the congregation 
and pious strangers, were to be regarded as 
the law of the land, is obvious. It was the 
pledge, that in due time our Great High Priest 
should personally, or by his heralds, proclaim 
the true atonement, and call upon the nations 
of the earth. Jews and strangers, to come and 
enjoy its blessings. 'And it shall come to pass 
in that day. that the great trumpet shall be 
blown, and they shall come which were ready 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



107 



to perish in the land of Assyria, and the out- 
casts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship 
the Lord in the Holy Mount at Jerusalem.' 
Isaiah xxvii., 13. 

"Again : The Jubilee was to be to all the 
inhabitants of the land a year of rest, typical 
of the rest of believers in heaven, according to 
both the second and third rules which we have 
given for the determination of types and anti- 
types. Lev. xxv., 10 — 12. 3Iany of the ordi- 
nances of the Old Testament had,- in themselves, 
no tendency to make the nation either pros- 
perous or happy. If we leave out of view 
their typical character, it would be difficult 
to point out their goodness. What blessing, 
secured by the death and intercession of our 
Lord, was typified by the year of Sabbath 
which followed the typical expiation on the 
morning of the Jubilee? The answer obviously 
is — eternal sabbath, or rest in heaven. The mean- 
ing of typical things is as unvarying. and fixed 
as that of words in any language, The mean- 
ing of one sabbath determines the meaning of 
all. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (chap, iv.), 
the author speaks of the rest of the seventh 
day. when our parents were in Eden, and that 
which was observed under Jesus or Joshua, 
and that of which David speaks in the Psalms, 
as prefiguring the rest which remaineth for the 



108 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



people of God, from which all unbelievers will 

be excluded. 

"When, therefore, the priest, by blowing the 
Jubilee trumpet proclaimed the atonement, and 
a year of rest from labor as one of its fruits, he 
preached, typically, everlasting rest in heaven, 
through the merits of the death of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The arrangement, that the 
nation, through the whole of the Jubilee sab- 
bath and the year preceding, were to live on 
the fruits of God's blessing on their labors in 
the sixth year, rebukes the Antinomian spirit 
on the one hand, and the spirit of self-right- 
eousness on the other. The Divine agency and 
human instrumentality are joined together in 
the Gospel, and to put them asunder is mis- 
chievous folly. It is as true in temporal as in 
spiritual things, 1 Except the Lord build the 
house, they labor in vain that build it.' And 
it is as true in spiritual as in temporal matters, 
4 The hand of the diligent maketh rich.' The 
man who in prospect of the Jubilee, would 
neither plow nor sow, and expect the Lord to 
fill his barn ; and he who would expect to reap 
a plentiful harvest without the blessing of 
heaven on his labors, would be equally and 
superstitiously foolish. That rebel, who turns 
his back on the Saviour, and the offers of his 
grace, and says he will work his own passage 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



109 



to heaven ; and that other rebel, who stands 
aloof from the means of salvation, with the 
weapons of rebellion in his hand, and tells us 
that he is waiting God's time, and expects the 
grace of God to take him to heaven, and in 
the meantime refuses to ground his arms, are 
engaged in the same war with God, and their 
end will be the same. 

"Again: At the Jubilee, 1 Liberty was to be 
proclaimed throughout all the land, unto all 
the inhabitants thereof.' Typical, according 
to rule second, of the fact, that when the people 
of God have ended their pilgrimage on earth, 
'they do enter into rest, each one walking in 
his uprightness.' It was the Saviour's pledge 
to all his servants, that when they shall have 
finished the work given them to do on earth, 
they shall be called to the enjoyment of ever- 
lasting rest in heaven, through the merits of 
the true atonement for sin. With all the bles- 
sedness of a pious mind, and notwithstanding 
the delight which every faithful servant of 
Jesus Christ finds in his master's work, 1 he 
would not live alway.' £ If in this life only, we 
have hope in Christ, we are of all men the 
most miserable.' The expectation of being 
shortly with his Eedeemer, in those mansions 
which he has gone to prepare in his Father's 
house, is called, emphatically,?/^ blessed hope. 



110 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



It is this that cheers the Christian -under his 
sufferings, and makes Lis present afflictions 
appear light, and but for a moment. It was 
this that sustained the patriarch Job, when all 
his earthly comforts had forsaken him. and 
his nearest friends were tormenting him. 'I 
know that my Eedeemer liveth, 5 etc. It is 
right that it should be so. It was for the joy set 
b fore him that Jesus endured the cross, despising 
the shame. It was a matter of course, that for 
a blessedness so much desired, there should be 
some symbolical pledge among the prominent 
ordinances of the Sinai covenant. Accordingly, 
in the release of the Hebrew servant, at the 
Jubilee, we see the pledge, that the death of 
believing Hebrews shall be their introduction 
to the enjoyment of an eternal sabbath in 
heaven. The remaining question, and the one 
in which we are personally and deeply inter- 
ested, is, 1 Does the same blessedness await the 
Gentile believer? 1 This question is answered 
in the command • Proclaim liberty throughout 
all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.'" 

"We can not close our remarks on this part 
of our subject, without noticing a most humili- 
ating proof of the badness of the human heart. 
Jlore than two thousand years ago, the unbe- 
lieving Jews conspired to cut off the Gentiles 
from the blessings of the Jubilee, and soon 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



ill 



after the commencement of the slave-trade a 
large proportion of Christendom joined the 
conspiracy. Both would rob the Gentiles; one 
would filch from them their temporal, the other 
their spiritual liberty. It is worth while to 
notice how a combination of sinners, so unlike, 
and so hostile to each other in some respects, can 
be affected by a common principle ; and though 
they may not be friendly enough to walk in 
the same path, they can arrive at the same goal 
by a different route. It matters not whether we 
attribute the right to the privileges of the typ- 
ical or antitypical atonement. Types and anti- 
types are equally extensive in their application, 
and mutually explain and illustrate each other. 
The unbelieving Jew admits, that the stranger 
shared in the typical blessings of the typical 
atonement. He would put out of the syna- 
gogue the man who would say, ' the heathen 
round about,' means descendants of Adam. 

tt But, in the face of all correct interpretation 
of type and antitype, he denies their right to 
the blessings secured by the true atonement- 
he insists that the Gentile nations are to be for- 
ever accursed. Without abandoning one of 
their favorite dreams, the Jews can not admit 
that their salvation was any part of the Messi- 
ah's errand into the world. They suppose that 
the glorious work which he is to accomplish, 



112 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



is the putting the neck of the Gentiles under 
the feet of the Jews. Their highest concep- 
tion of earthly bliss, is living in a ceiled 
house, and looking down with contempt, on 
the Gentile world, perishing without a Saviour 
— a sight which the Devil could enjoy for its 
own sake, and a Pharisee for its worldly profit. 
The slave-holding Christian insists, that the 
Jews are wrong in excluding Gentile sinners 
from the blessings typified by the privileges 
proclaimed by the Jubilee trumpet. He would 
inflict the highest censures of the Church on 
the man who would propagate such damnable 
heresy. And then he will indirectly preach 
that same heresy, by contending that Gentile 
servants had no share in that typical liberty 
proclaimed on the morning of the Jubilee. He 
sees, that the moment he admits that the servi- 
tude of the Gentile servants was not perpetual, 
he must abandon his favorite argument, miser- 
able as it is. for holding the Africans in per- 
petual slavery. 

Again : In the year of Jubilee, relief was 
granted to Israelites, and pious strangers, who 
had waxen poor and fallen into decay : typical, 
according to rule second, of the duties which 
should specially be demanded of the followers 
of Christ under the new dispensation. "It 
was a beautiful illustration of the practical 



SAMUEL CROTHEHS. 113 

influence of the atonement, to see the congre- 
gation searching out those who had waxen 
poor, and fallen into decay, to relieve them 
without hope of earthly gain. The apostle 
James mentions, as peculiar to the religion of 
the Bible, that it teaches to visit the fatherless 
and the widows, in their affliction. 2s o one has 
ever seen an institution for the relief of the 
poor, the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, 
where the atonement was unknown. What is 
the reason that the heathen are proverbially 
revengeful? Why is a nominal Christian, when 
lie feels himself to be injured, uniformly cold- 
blooded and unforgiving? Why is it, that he 
can look on a neighbor, of a different color, in 
distress, without pity? How has it come to 
pass, that he can hear of his fellow-immor- 
tals, groaning by millions in slavery, forcibly 
deprived of the means of salvation, without 
pity, and even with a spirit of determined 
opposition to every scheme for their relief? 
The reason (not his apology) is, his heart is a 
stranger to the influence of the atonement. 
Where that influence is not felt, there is, 
strictly speaking, no suck thing as mercy 
among men. ZST o man, but he who lias felt his 
dependence on the blood of atonement, can 
eincerel}' and safely pray that prayer : ' Forgive 
us our trespasses as we forgive those who 
10 



114 



LIFE AND WRITINGS 01 



trespass against us.' It is worthy of remark, 
that the word used by our Lord and his apos- 
tles, and some of the prophets, to express mercy, 
and the term propitiation, are kindred terms. 
The reason is, that to be merciful to the miser- 
able or guilty, is neither more nor less, than to 
deal with them according to the merits of the 
propitiation. When the publican prays, 'Lord 
be merciful to me, a sinner 1 (hilasthati moi), his 
meaning is, deal with me according to the propitia- 
tion. The man who professes to build his 
hopes of heaven on the propitiation, and in 
the mean time can take his brother (yea, 
though he be a stranger) by the throat, be- 
cause poverty, or the law of the land, has put 
him in his power, belies Jiis profession. The man 
who can drive a stranger, and especially a 
brother, out of the house of the Lord, and out 
of the land, because his complexion does not 
suit him, is a scandal to the Christian name. 
The law in Israel was, 'If thy brother be 
waxen poor, and fallen into decay, then thou 
shalt release him, yea, though he be a stranger, or 
sojourner, (hat he may live with thee. 1 

"Doubtless the numbers thus to be assisted, 
would be many. First, Those who left their 
country and kindred for the sake of the means 
of grace. A mixed multitude went up with 
Israel from Egypt, Ex. xii., 38, and when they 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



115 



returned from Babylon, Xeh.xiii., 3. Such, acces- 
sions from the heathen are subjects of frequent 
prophecy. — Isa. xiv., 1. The language of Moses 
to Hobah breathes the spirit of all pious Isra- 
elites to their fellow-sinners, whenever they 
meet them : ' come with us, and we will do you 
good/ Pious strangers would wish to reside 
in the Holy Land. It is true that we have 
Christians who for the sake of increasing their 
property, can leave the Gospel and settle among 
the heathen. But the}' have the apology that 
the Gospel will follow them. Strangers in 
heathen lands, under the Old Testament, could 
have no such hope, and in many instances con- 
version to the religion of the Bible, made it 
necessary to flee to the Holy Land, to save their 
lives. Hence, on the day of Pentecost, we find 
devout men from every nation under heaven, 
proselytes as well as Jews, living in Jerusalem. 
Another interesting class of strangers was 
the widows and fatherless from the heathen. 
The law forbade taking captive those whom 
they conquered in wars with their oppressors. — ■ 
Deut. xx. But the women and children made 
widows and fatherless, were to be brought 
home and provided for. This statue served as 
a check on the war spirit, and provided for a 
class of human beings for whom there is no 
mercy among the heathen. The law secured 



116 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



to those, with other strangers, the gleanings 
of every field, and vineyard, and oJivc yard, 
and permission to pass through any field and 
cat their fill — and the tithe taken up every 
year was for their support, and that of the Le- 
vi tes. It was to secure them from the grasp 
of the manstealer and other oppressors, that this 
terrible threatening was delivered : 'Ye shall not 
afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou 
afflict them in anywise, and they at all cry unto 
me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath 
shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the 
sword, and your wives shall be widows, and 
your children fatherless.' The fact that the 
nations around were slave-makers, . . made 
such a threatening necessary. 

" Another numerous class of strangers were 
slaves who had escaped from their masters. — 
Deut. xv., 16. That those would be numerous, 
is probable, when we consider the prevalence 
of slavery and its oppressive character among 
the surrounding nations. 

" If our citizens were bound to protect every 
runaway, we would soon have a crowded popu- 
lation. Considering the ignorance and degra- 
dation of these refugees from oppression, they 
would not always make pleasant neighbors. 

" And it would be a considerable tax that 
would be necessary to relieve those who were 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



117 



poor. But an Israelite who had just piously 
witnessed a typical exhibition of the work by 
which the Saviour was to save him from per- 
ishing in his sins, would not be very ready to 
complain of arty sacrifice, necessary to the 
glory of his Eedeenier, or the welfare of his 
fellow-men. 

<{ They were to open their gates and let these 
strangers dwell in whatever place they might 
choose. They were to love them and relieve 
them in their difficulties. And to make a 
difference in the treatment of them and their 
own people, on account of the nation from 
which they came, or on any other account, is 
repeatedly forbidden under penalty of God's 
displeasure: 'If a stranger sojourn with thee 
in your land, ye shall not vex him, but the 
stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto 
you as one born among you, and thou shalt 
love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in 
the land of Egypt, I am the Lord/'' — Lev. 
xix., 33. 

There are several other propositions in the 
work, chiefly illustrative of the fact, that the 
servants of the children of Israel were not 
slaves in the common acceptation of the word 
among us. This fact we will, from other pro- 
ducts of his pen, fully prove, in chapter IV. 
We will therefore dismiss the Gospel of the 



118 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



Jubilee, with the hope that the extracts we 
have given will induce the reader to obtain 
and careful!}' examine the whole work. We 
will now present a few extracts from his u Life 
of Abraham/' In addition to the reasons we 
have already given for extracting so largely 
from his published writings we might add 
another, viz: the fact that they are illustrative 
of the workings of the patriarchal system and 
the "old economy." — afield scarcely touched by 
theological writers, as yet. and hence any thing 
on that subject becomes doubly important. 

The " Life of Abraham "was published in 1847, 
some eight years later than the " Gospel of the 
Jubilee/' The chief design in this work, in addi- 
tion to inculcating the cardinal truths of Chris- 
tianity, which frequently come up in the nar- 
rative, is to present Abraham as a missionary 
(one too, in many respects, worthy of being 
copied by modern missionaries), and not as a 
prince devoted to ' ; capturing slaves and trading 
in servants." In the first chapter, Abram's 
birth, his parentage, conversion and leaving of 
Ur, is treated of. Concerning the fitness of 
the time, at which Abram was called to leave 
his native place, he remarks as follows : 

l: The true religion was declining and bid 
fair to be soon banished from the land, by the 
prevalence of worldliness, and gross immorality, 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



119 



and the most abominable licentiousness. The 
people in the plain of Jordan, and particularly 
in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Acl- 
mah and Zeboim, and the regions around, were 
c wicked and sinners before the Lord exceed- 
ingly.' The Amorites were fast filling up the 
cup of their iniquity. And generally, such 
were the morals of the community, that when 
Abraham arrived with his beautiful wife in any 
strange place, he considered his life in danger." 

Concerning his conversion we copy the fol- 
lowing thoughts : 

" Abram, like the great apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, was on the verge of perdition. But 
through the sovereign and abounding grace, of 
Him who will ; have mere}' on whom he will 
have mercy/ he was plucked as a brand from 
the burning. This fact was afterward embodied 
in the law which regulated the offering of the 
first fruits, to keep alive in the hearts of all his 
descendants the important truth, that salvation 
from sin is only through the sovereign mercy 
of a sovereign God. When they went up to the 
place where the Lord had put his name, the 
priest was to take the basket containing their 
offering — c And thou shalt speak and say, A 
Syrian ready to perish, was my father,' etc. — 
Deut. xxvi. 3 5. 

" AYe have no information as to the particular 



120 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



means by which he was converted. It is cer- 
tain, however, that he had experienced a saving 
change, and was a true believer before he left 
his native land. The martyr Stephen in his 
last defense says, that it was in Mesopotamia 
before he dwelt in Haran, that the God of 
Glory appeared to him ; and the apostle (Heb. 
xi., 8) points to the faith evinced by obedience 
to the command received on that occasion, as 
a sample of the only kind of faith by which 
the soul of a sinner can be saved. There is 
reason to believe that all his father's family 
were reclaimed from their idolatry. "When he 
received the command to leave his native coun- 
try, his old father Terah, at the advanced age 
of two hundred years, cast in his lot with him, 
resolving to become a wanderer in a strange 
land, rather than live and die in a region de- 
voted to idols." 

The second chapter treats of the offices held 
by Abram and ail elder brethren, under the 
patriarchal dispensation. A subject very im- 
portant in order to fully understand the Mosaic 
economy. Indeed, it is to ignorance on this 
point, that in a great measure we owe the theo- 
ries which attribute to the God of the Bible, 
the sanction and regulation of slavery. Our 
extracts will therefore be full on this subject. 

" From the first promise of a Saviour, down 



SAMUEL CR0THERS, 



121 



to the giving of the law at Sinai, the elder "brother 
was heir of the inheritance — he was the prince or 
ruler — he was the prophet or teacher~hQ was the 
sacrificer or priest over all his father's house. There 
were no Bibles or books to read. The oldest son 
was made the depositary of all the revelations 
to man from Adam to Moses. On his fidelity in 
treasuring up these revelations, and in daily 
meditations, so as to understand them and im- 
part the instructions they contained to all his 
father's house and all within his gates, every 
Sabbath day, when they assembled for worship 
around the altar, depended, under God, the sal- 
vation of souls. Hence every elder brother was 
a type of him who is called the heir of all things, 
the King, the Prophet, the Great High Priest over all 
the family of God. That he might attend to all 
the duties of these high offices without dis- 
traction from worldly cares, he was sustained 
by what was called the double portion. 

" Such was the famous birthright, forfeited 
by Cain, greatly desired by Jacob, and pro- 
fanely sold to him by Esau. Eeuben lost his 
claim to it by the crime of incest. His father 
deposes him on his death-bed. Its privileges 
and duties were afterward distributed, by the 
Sinai covenant, among the sons of Levi, Aaron, 
Judah, and Joseph. I. Chron. v., 1 — 3. To 
suppose that Abraham made the duties of these 
11 



122 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



offices secondary to attending to his cattle, or 
any secular pursuit, is to suppose that he was 
eminently a profane person, and that he ex- 
celled Esau only in making a greater fortune, 
out of his contempt of the birthright. No 
sober mind can entertain for a moment the 
opinion, that the Lord called him to the land 
of Canaan, to set before the elders there, so 
scandalous an example, and thus hasten their 
perdition. 

"We shall briefly notice those three offices, 
by devotedness to which Abraham became 
great, both in the sight of God and man. 

" First. Prince. Master. Lord, or Ruler. — All 
these titles are used — sometimes the one, and 
sometimes the other — to express the authority 
of the elders. Isaac, when he installs Jacob in 
the birthright, says : ' Be lord over thy breth- 
ren, and let thy mother's sons bow down unto 
thee.' "When he tells Esau what he had done, 
he says, { I have made him thy lord, and all 
his brethren have I given to him for servants/ 
Gen. xxvii., 37. The term servant, when used 
to express a lawful relation, and excepting 
when used as a term of mere civility, is em- 
ployed in only two ways in the Bible, Some- 
times it means one who is subject to his 
magistrate or ruler. In this sense all younger 
brethren were servants of the elder. Some- 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



123 



times it means one who is bound to labor for 
an elder brother, for a certain term. Under the 
first two dispensations the term was seven 
years. In this sense, an elder could not be- 
come a servant. He could do service, or serve, 
but not as a servant, in the technical sense of 
the term. To do so, voluntarily, would be a 
sinful dereliction of office. To compel him, 
because he was in debt, would be to depose 
him from a high office, because he was poor. 
If he bound himself to serve a younger brother, 
his appropriate title was, not a servant, but a 
servant of servants. Gen. ix., 25. 

"The oversight of the Euler was to be exer- 
cised so as not to clash with the authority of 
the younger brethren as parents, if they were 
heads of families. So it is with the elder and 
younger in the Christian church. I. Pet. v., 
1 — 5. He was to watch, both for their tempo- 
ral and spiritual welfare. He was to see that 
they were instructed, and protected, and re- 
lieved in poverty and distress. If any trans- 
gressed, he was to see that they were chastised, 
and that they were excommunicated if they 
proved irreclaimable. If any were injured, he 
was to see that they were redressed. He was 
all that was implied in the titles, Kinsman, 
Redeemer, Revenger, or Avenger of Blood. 

" Abraham was distinguished for his fidelity 



124 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



in this office. We find high encomiums on 
him. as one who commanded his house, and 
saw to it that they kept the ways of the Lord, 
"We see him excommunicating impenitent 
mockers, or persecutors, and. with great hero- 
ism, acting the part of a kinsman, or avenger, 
when a brother was taken captive. His fidelity 
to God. and all who were under him. was so 
conspicuous, that the people loved and honored 
him. as ■ a mighty prince." and the conviction 
seems to have been general, that God was with 
him in ail that he did. 

" Second. Priest, or Sacrificer. — Previous to 
the Sinai covenant, there was no distinct order 
of priests, if we except the temporary and 
extraordinary priesthood of ILelckisedeck. 
The elder brother, in case of the death, or ina- 
bility, or absence of his father, offered the 
sacrifice. We read of Cain and Abel bringing 
their offerings, but their father officiated as the 
priest. This was an important office of Abra- 
ham, to hold up clearly, by sacrifice, and the 
accompanying instruction, the great sacrifice, 
which • the seed of the woman ' was in due 
time to offer, as an atonement for sin. To pro- 
claim and explain the great atonement is the 
business of every minister and missionary. 
And he who discharges his duty best, other 
things being equal, will be most successful in 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



125 



winning souls to Christ, and in banishing 
heresy and idolatry in every form. Hence, 
wherever Abraham pitched his tent for any 
length of time, he built an altar for sacrifice, 
to show his own household, and all from neigh- 
boring towns who chose to meet with him on 
the Sabbath, the only way in which a just God 
can forgive sin. 

" Third. Prophet. Teacher, or Preacher. — These 
titles are used to express one of the offices 
common to Abraham and all the first-born 
under that dispensation. Xoah is incidentally 
called a 'preacher of righteousness.' Abraham 
is commended by the angels, on their way to 
Sodom, for his fidelity, and success in training 
immortal beings. It appears, that at one time 
there were three hundred and eighteen of his 
trained ones, active young men. The Lord 
directed the king of Gerar to him as one who 
sustained the public office of a prophet. The 
Psalmist ascribes the safety of him and his 
immediate successors, in their itinerating life, 
to the care which God exercises over those who 
have been anointed to that sacred office : 
'TThen they were few in number, yea very 
few. and strangers in it — when they went from 
one nation to another, and from one kingdom 
to another, he suffered no man to do them 
wrong, yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, 



126 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



saying, touch, not mine anointed, do my proph- 
ets no harm.' They were as really God's 
anointed ministers, clothed with authority from 
the God of heaven to discharge the duties of 
an important and sacred office, as those later 
priests on whom that holy oil was poured out, 
which ran down upon Aaron's beard, even to 
the skirts of his garments. It is passing 
strange that any should suj)pose, that the Sab- 
bath-day exercises in those times, consisted in 
the ceremony of sacrifice, unaccompanied with 
preaching. A religion of mere ceremonies, in 
any age or country, is a lifeless thing ; it neither 
enlightens the understanding, nor affects the 
heart. Christianity, even in a land of Bibles 
and religious books, would soon die out with- 
out preaching. It has pleased God, in every 
age, to save souls by the preaching of the Gospel. 
And if there ever was an age in which it was 
absolutely, indispensably necessary, it was in 
the days preceding the age of books and 
Bibles. 

''The truth is, that the name of no man has 
ever been more famous in the world than that 
of Abraham, as a prophet of the true religion, 
and as an opposer of idolatry." 

The third, fourth, and fifth chapters consider 
Abraham as a Missionary, called to leave his 
home, and receiving the promise of being 



SAMUEL CR0THER3. 



127 



made a great nation, and a blessing to all the 
families of the earth. Among the elder breth- 
ren there were doubtless many like jSToah, 
" preachers of righteousn ess " — many who, like 
Enoch, walked with God, and, like them, will 
receive the reward of their work. 

" But, so far as we have information, Abra- 
ham was the first who was called to forego the 
comforts of home, and country, and a fixed 
abode, to itinerate in foreign lands. The apos- 
tle illustrates true faith in God, and that obe- 
dience which is its necessary fruit, by the faith 
of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, during a 
period of more than two hundred years, in 
itinerating as strangers, dwelling in movable 
tents, without a city, or any fortified or fixed 
habitation. He gives us the same view of 
those devoted patriarchs, which David gives us 
in the psalms which he composed to be sung at 
the removal of the ark (I. Chron. xvi., 22), and 
afterward incorporated with the psalms (Ps. 
cv. — xv.), to be sung by the Church in ages 
succeeding : — as God's anointed prophets, itine- 
rating from place to place, under the special 
protection of heaven, propagating the knowl- 
edge and worship of the true God. 

"Abraham teas devoted , exclusively, to the good 
VjotTc to which God called him. — He who is 
called to minister in holy things, can not turn 



128 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



aside to secular concerns, excepting in case of 
necessity, without becoming chargeable with 
dereliction of office. It is one of God's fixed 
arrangements, peculiar to no dispensation, that 
they ' which wait at the altar, are partakers of 
the altar,' and ' they which preach the Gospel, 
should live of the Gospel.' 

" But how was Abraham supported? — He was 
neither a monk nor an angel ; he was a man, 
and had a family. His situation was in some 
respects peculiar. Like all missionaries, he 
must take nothing from the heathen, lest he 
should be suspected of worldly motives, and 
lest some one should say, £ I have made Abra- 
ham rich.' But, unlike all other missionaries, 
he left no churches, or pious friends behind, to 
care for him, and forward supplies as he might 
need. The plan which he adopted, and which 
his history develops, as we shall see, was sim- 
ply this : Before he entered Canaan he had 
organized a pious mission family, composed of 
his own converts, to be employed in keeping 
cattle, with occasional tillage, in the extensive 
pasture grounds of that champaign country. 
The population was sparse, and those exten- 
sive pastures were considered common to all 
who chose to occupy them. The persons thus 
engaged became his servants, in both the senses 
of that term. They became subject to him, as 



SAMUEI> CR0THERS. 



129 



their Kuler, and they engaged to labor for him 
during a specified term. . . . There were, 
also, two considerations which secured their 
continuance with him, and their cordial co-ope- 
ration under all difficulties — they were bought 
with money, and they were his pious converts to 
the true religion. 

" They were bought with money. — The word 
hanab, here translated buy, literally means, to 
get, or obtain : Eve says, 1 1 have gotten (bought) 
a man of the Lord.' Gen. iv., 1. The prophet 
Isaiah urges sinners to come, and obtain or get 
(buy) 'wine and milk, without money, and 
without price.' Isaiah lv., 1. The phrase, 
bought with money, designates servants whose 
wages were a fixed sum of money. It is used 
in reference to Abraham's people, to distin- 
guish them from all that class of servants who 
were obtained by allowing them a certain share 
of the produce of the field which they culti- 
vated, or a portion of the increase of the flock 
which they tended. Joseph obtained servants 
for Pharaoh by allowing them four-fifths of all 
the grain they raised. Gen. xlvii., 24. Jacob, 
during the last six years he spent in Mesopo- 
tamia, served Laban for a portion of the 
increase of the cattle. But such an arrange- 
ment would not suit Abraham. It would give 
him no authority over them, and no claim upon 



130 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



them, excepting for his share of the profits of 
the flock and herd. They might grumble if he 
erected his altar in a region where the pasture 
was not good ; and a little over anxiety to 
make monev might induce them so to enlarge 
the drove as to rouse their neighbors against 
them. To obviate any such difficulty, the 
arrangement was, that their wages above their 
daily support, should be a fixed sum of money . 

" Abraham 's servants were all pious worshipers of 
the true God. Their piety is evident from the 
fact, that the Lord counted them all entitled to 
circumcision — the seal of the righteousness of 
faith. — Gen. xvii,. 13. Filthy servants of the 
Devil would make poor subjects for such an 
ordinance, and they would be miserable helpers 
of the missionary. We shall have occasion to 
notice in Abraham's history, that the only per- 
sons he took with him were his own converts 
in Haran. ... It would be unpleasant for 
these young converts to be left behind; when 
Abraham received the command to go into 
Canaan, they would feel a strong attachment 
to their spiritual father — they would naturally 
fear that the darkness that brooded over TJr of 
the Chaldees would soon cover all the coun- 
tries around, and that furthest from that den 
of idolatry and persecution would be the best. 
They needed employment. They and their 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



131 



children needed instruction. And as professors 
of a much hated religion, they might soon need 
the protection of some ' mighty prince whom 
God was with in all that he did.' Abraham, on 
the other hand, would be cheered by the pres- 
ence of a large pious household, and their 
attention to his temporal interests, would be 
essential to the successful prosecution of the 
great work, to which he was called. 

" Whatever might be his trials in the prose- 
cution of his work, he was not without the 
promises of God. When first called to leave his 
country and kindred the following promise was 
given to him, ( And I will make of thee a great 
nation, and I will bless thee and make thy 
name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I 
will bless them that bless thee, and curse them 
that curseth thee — and in thee shall all fami- 
lies of the earth be blessed.' — Gen. xii., 2, 3. 
We have only to analyze this promise to per- 
ceive that it contains three distinct proposi- 
tions. 

" First. A great and lioly nation icas to he organ- 
ized in his house. We have here the origin of 
the title which Peter gave the Church of God — 
c a holy nation, a peculiar people.' A nation 
means a people separated and distinguished by 
its polity from all others. On account of the ex- 
tent to which the faithful were to be embodied, 



132 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



and the important purposes to be accomplished 
by their organization, it is called—' a great 
nation/ 

" Second. Posterity and lasting fame. ^ I will 
bless thee and make thy name great.' Fame 
is a legitimate object of ambition. The desire 
of it is implanted in the heart of every man by 
his Maker. It is only when it is perverted 
that it becomes sinful. The fame and prosper- 
ity here promised, were such as were calculated 
to cheer the heart of a good man, who had left 
all for the glory of God, and the salvation of 
souls. The promise was fulfilled : We see 
Abraham's great name, in two letters which 
are inapplicable to any man that ever lived, 
excepting himself. He was the friend of God, 
and the father of the faithful. 

a Third. He was to he the medium of extensive 
blessings to others. ' Thou shalt be a blessing — 
and in thee shall all families of the earth be 
blessed.' We know not w T hether Abraham 
clearly understood, how he w r as to be the me- 
dium of blessing so extensive. But in the next 
revelation he is told, that it should be through 
his seed. An inspired expositor interprets it 
to mean, that the Saviour should be born of 
his seed. . . With the above promises to 
comfort him, Abraham fled from persecution 
in his native land, with the care of his feeble, 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



133 



helpless family. But lie left Haran in very- 
different style. We know not how large his 
household was. but about fifteen years after- 
ward he could call out three hundred and 
eighteen active young men. 

"At the head of the long cavalcade he com- 
mences a dangerous and fatiguing journey of 
many hundred miles, not knowing whither he 
went — like the great apostle of the Gentiles, 
not knowing the things which should befall 
him; and. like that just and good man, not 
counting his life dear to him, if he might but 
find a land that would ultimately be a heavenly 
country, and persuade sinners to accept God's 
salvation, and unite with him, on the sabbath, 
in calling on the name of the Lord.'' 1 

We have already noticed how he obtained 
his company, and also their character. And 
here it may not be out of place to note, that 
his sojourn of five years at Haran may be 
accounted for: first, by the fact, "that old 
Terah was Ruler, Priest, and Teacher, while 
he lived, . . . and it was important that 
Abraham, before he reach the field assigned 
him, should be sole director." And, second, 
God had "much people" in Haran to save by 
Abraham's preaching. 

In the sixth chapter, we have an account of 
Abraham's cotemporary, Melchisedek. In the 



134 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, Abraham's 
biography is continued, and brought down to 
the time of " the invasion by the pagan con- 
federacy, in which Lot was taken captive." 

"When Abraham reached the promised land, 
he did not stop and prepare himself a dwelling, 
but passes on until he comes to Sicheni, or She- 
chem. What could be his intention ? 

" The mystery is explained, when we recol- 
lect that Sichem was near to Salem, the resi- 
dence of Melchisedek. It would be cheering 
to have an interview with that great and good 
man, in that land of wickedness, wholly devoted 
to the cause of God. It was due to Melchise- 
dek, as Abraham's superior, that he should 
visit and consult him. And it was essential to 
their comfort and success that there should be 
a mutual understanding of their views and 
plans of operation. . . . His stay at Sichem 
was short, probably only for a night or two. 
That place enjoyed the labors of an eminently 
good man, and accordingly he soon removed 
to a place about thirty or forty miles south. 
We never hear of him in that region again, 
except when he passed through in pursuit of 
Chederlaomer and his allies." 

Abraham, we are told (Gen. xii., 8), removed 
to a mountain having " Bethel on the west, and 
Hai on the east." " Abraham never located 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



135 



himself in any of the towns, or in the midst of 
any of the families. He carefully avoided 
even the appearance of a disposition to force 
his instructions and religion on the inhabitants. 
He came in the spirit of his Master, of whom 
it was written : L He shall not strive nor cry, 
neither shall any man hear his voice in the 
streets. A bruised reed he shall not break, 
and smoking flax he shall not quench.' 

" Moses furnishes us with a clue to the exer- 
cises in which Abraham was statedly engaged 
on the sabbath, by telling us two things. He 
builded an altar unto the Lord — and he called upon 
the name of the Lord. This is his history when- 
ever he took possession of a new place. If we 
attend to what is implied in these two phrases, 
we shall be able to form a right estimate of 
the work for which he was called to that land. 

" First. He builded an altar. — In other words, 
as priest he offered sacrifice. Every man in- 
vested with the birthright was called to that 
work, under that dispensation — even as the 
eldest son of Aaron was afterward called to the 
priesthood. Some respectable commentators 
are careful to call our attention to Abraham's 
altar, as proof that he did not neglect family 
worship. If patriarchs never prayed except 
when they sacrificed, most of them went to bed 
prayerless. 



136 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



"It was for public worship that Abraham 
always builded his altar. It might be said of 
all who attended his sabbath exercises, as the 
apostle said of those Christians who had been 
present on communion occasions, ' before their 
eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, 
crucified among them.' As every thing which 
constituted the religion of the patriarchs was 
incorporated with the law given at Sinai, and 
as the same God instructed Adam and Closes 
as to the manner in which he would be wor- 
shiped, we may safely take the law of Moses 
as our guide, as to the manner in which Abra- 
ham officiated at the altar. He brought before 
the Lord a victim from the flock, or the herd, 
for sacrifice, as an acknowledgment that he, 
and the family in whose behalf he ministered, 
were sinners, and that there was no hope of 
forgiveness, but through the merit of the great 
sacrifice for sin, to be offered up in due time, 
by the ' seed of the woman/ 

"By laying both his hands on its head, and 
confessing over it all their iniquities, and all 
their transgressions, in all their sins, putting 
them upon its head, he professed their faith in 
the Divine promise, that Messiah should take 
their low place, be substituted in their room ; 
that their iniquities should be laid upon him, 
that he might be wounded for their transgres- 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



137 



sions, and bruised for their iniquities. Its life 
was taken by shedding its blood, to signify- 
that Messiah should give his life a ransom, 
that sinners might live. Its body was con- 
sumed on the altar by fire, which was the sym- 
bol of the presence and agency of the Holy 
Spirit, in kindling in the body and soul of the 
Redeemer the true fire, the wrath of the sin- 
avenging God. The altar, as well as the vic- 
tim and the priest, was a type of Christ. The 
blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the 
horns of the altar, the symbol of power, to 
signify that even the glorious and almighty 
Eedeemer had no power to save sinners from 
the stroke of Divine Justice, but that which he 
derived from the merits of his blood ; and even 
that blood, though infinitely .meritorious, will 
avail nothing in saving any sinner until the 
great High Priest applies it in his behalf. 
Then, and not till then, his sins are atoned for. 

" Second. He called on the name of the Lord. — 
By this phrase Moses suggests the exercises of 
devotion, and for instruction, in which Abra- 
ham usually engaged on public occasions, in 
connection with offering sacrifice. One that 
calls on the name of the Lord, was, in old time, 
one of the official titles of the minister who led 
in the public exercises connected with the 
altar. Psalm xcix., 6. , . . This was the 
12 



138 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



phrase used by inspired men, to distinguish 
the true religion from all others, from Closes 
down to the apostles. In fact, there never has 
been but two religions in the world. Whatever 
else believers have differed about, they have 
agreed in calling on the name of the Lord. And 
whatever else Pagans, Mohammedans, and oth- 
ers have differed about, they have all agreed in 
having some other name to trust in, and call upon. 
. . . It vras the sight by faith of the name of 
the Lord, dying for sinners, and saving all vrho 
will come unto him. which fired the soul of the 
patriarch, and all the pious members of his 
household, around the altar, every sabbath day. 
His business was, to persuade sinners to for- 
sake their delusions, and come and trust in the 
name of the Lord. The atonement and divin- 
ity of Jesus were Abraham's favorite themes. 5 ' 

During Abrah am s sojourn east o f Bethel, 
the land was visited with a sore famine : to 
preserve his life he vrent down into Egypt, 
and there practiced deceit by denying his wife, 
and very prominently is it noted by the in- 
spired penman. " The Bible, by setting before us 
the sins into which eminently good men have 
fallen, rebukes the self-righteous, and admon- 
ishes him that standeth to take heed lest he fall. 
And in the record of the sins into which such 
men have fallen, and the evils they thereby 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



139 



have brought upon themselves, we are remind- 
ed, that God is no respecter of persons, that 
wisdom's ways are the only ways of pleasant- 
ness and peace, and that 'the way of the 
transgressor is hard.' " 

After Abraham's return out of Egypt, in his 
transaction with Lot, in reference to a dispute 
between their respective herdsmen, he gave 
clear proof, that though he had fallen by the 
hand of the tempter, yet there was little cause 
for rejoicing over him, for the graces of the 
Spirit were yet in his heart. Hence his mag- 
nanimity toward his selfish kinsman. And 
well would it be, if every wayward and worldly 
minded Christian would study the consequen- 
ces of Lot's conduct. And here we present 
some reflections on it worthy of consideration : 

" The character and history of Lot afford 
warning and instruction. Inspired men have 
decided that, with all his faults, he was a con- 
verted man. But, like many who in the eyes 
of God have the root of the matter in them, 
selfishness and worldly greed were his beset- 
ting sins. Such men often have to be wonder- 
fully accommodated if any Christian society 
succeeds in holding them. Frequently it can 
not be done ; in contending for their rights, as 
they call it, but in reality for their worldly 
lusts, they often get into situations where they 



140 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



can pursuetheir schemes, without the restraints 
of the Church or Christian society. If they 
were hypocrites, they might make their for- 
tunes and die surrounded with riches. But if 
they be those whom the Saviour has engaged 
to see safe to heaven, stripes and the rod await 
them at every step of their journey until they 
retrace their steps. 

" Prom the day Lot made his wretched choice, 
with some seasons of seeming prosperity, his 
history is just a series of troubles and afflic- 
tions. His cattle-raising perhaps went on 
thrivingly for a time. But the first thing we 
hear of him he is on the way to his native 
country, in the hands of slave-making in- 
vaders — all his property is scattered to the 
winds. The next thing, he is escaping for his 
life, over the plain, from the storm of fire and 
brimstone, which destroyed his country — all 
behind him is consumed. In the last account, 
he is a poor old man, living in a cave with 
daughters whom the Canaanite and the Periz- 
zite might have been ashamed of." 

When the pagan confederacy, led by Ched- 
erlaomer, had invaded the country, and led 
Lot captive, it became Abraham's duty as elder 
brother, and kinsman, to attempt his rescue. 
Accordingly, " When Abraham heard that his 
brother Lot was taken captive, he armed his 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



141 



trained servants, born in his house, three hun- 
dred and eighteen, and pursued them unto 
Dan." " Those who wish to make the Scrip- 
tures sustain the theory of the Mohammedans 
and Jesuits, that ministers ought to appear at 
the head of armed warriors, and propagate 
religion by the sword and bayonet, insist 
that these trained instructed ones, mean persons 
trained to the use of military arms. This is 
gratuitous. The word trained is the one used, 
in the injunctions to all heads of families — 
' Train up a child,' etc. — Prov. xxi., 6. Abra- 
ham, excej)t on this occasion, never meddled 
with arms — so far as his history informs us — 
and there is not a particle of evidence that he 
ever spent an hour in drilling any of his house- 
hold to the use of military weapons. But we 
have God's testimony to his diligence, and suc- 
cess in training them £ to keep the ways of the 
Lord, to do justice and judgment.' 

Abraham succeeded in overtaking the pagan 
army, and after a great, and on his part, a vic- 
torious battle, he succeeded in obtaining his 
friends. But " Abraham did not disgrace his 
religion. He took no prisoners. Those who 
escaped the sword, he sent home to their fami- 
lies ; after compelling them to give up the per- 
sons and goods they had stolen." 

In the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and 



142 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



fifteenth chapters, we have an account of addi- 
tional promises made to Abraham — the troubles 
in his house on account of polygamy, together 
with the revelation usually called the Abra- 
ham! c covenant. This promise is styled by 
Dr. Crothers, " The charter of the Church of 
God, as it regards both temporal and spiritual 
privileges, till the end of time." Its preface is 
also well worthy of our attention : " I am the 
Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou 
perfect." u I am the Almighty God" " This is 
a short creed, but it contains the spirit and sum 
of the faith of God's people, in all ages. . . . 
It designates the only being in the universe 
who is the proper object of religious worship — 
as possessed of such infinite perfection and 
glory, as to be worthy of being served, and 
loved by all ranks of intelligent beings, with 
all their heart, soul, strength, and mind." . . 
" Walk before me and be thou perfect" is a brief 
but very comprehensive summary of the duties 
of a saved sinner. The practical holiness of 
one on the road to heaven does not consist 
of occasional fits. It is compared to a walk, 
which daily brings the traveler nearer the end 
of his journey. The spirit of a holy life is 
expressed by the phrase, before me. A true 
Christian realizes the presence of God, and his 
all-seeing eye, wherever he is. ... " This 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



143 



covenant secured to Abraham: First, A nu- 
merous seed; Second. Temporal blessings', and 
Third, It secured a Saviour and the means of 
an interest in lam and. salvation itself, to those 
xcho believed." 

At the same interview with Abraham, God 
established the ordinance of circumcision. This 
ordinance was significant of three things — 
First. It wag a token of what we have called 
the Abrahamic covenant, between God and 
Abraham; Second. It " was 3 sign of sanctifi- 
cation, or circumcision of the heart :*' Third, 
It - was a seal of the righteousnes of faith," 
It did not seal the individual as a righteous 
person. But it was God's seal to his covenant 
engagement, to provide a righteousness for the 
justification of sinners, and that it should be 
imputed to every believer. The very nature 
of the ordinance rebukes the profane notion, 
that no evidence of a change of heart was 
required of an adult applicant for circumcision. 
TVere the officers of Abraham's house to make 
numbers the paramount consideration ? "Were 
they to make it a matter of no consequence, 
whether the applicant loved God or Belial? On 
the contrary, making no difference between 
the clean and the unclean, and admitting those 
who were circumcised in heart as well as in 



144 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



flesh, was one of the sins for which Israel was 
sent captive to Babylon. — Ezk. xliv., 7. 

The subjects of this ordinance were of two 
classes : " He that is born in thy house, and he 
that is bought with thy money." The former 
were pious converts to the faith of Abraham, 
and their children. God himself bears witness 
that they were persons who kept i: the ways of 
God to do justice and judgment," and that 
Abraham was a man who would keep no other 
sort of people in his house. — Gen. xviii., 19. 
Their sons and his sons — children of those who 
made a credible profession of faith in the Mes- 
siah, were to be circumcised. 

The latter class, those " bought with money," 
were those who were identified with his family,' 
their services being hired for money for a cer- 
tain time, and not " servants obtained by allow- 
ing them a share of the fruits of the field, which 
they cultivated, or of the increase of the flock 
or herd which they tended;" if there were 
such they were excluded. . . The same law 
existed respecting the passover. A servant 
bought with ^inoney, was a part of the family, 
but a hired man who was a foreigner could 
not be admitted. — Ex. xii., 44-45. 

In the remaining chapters, among other 
things, we have an account of the visits of the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



145 



angels to Abraham, previous to the destruction 
of Sodom, his again sinning in the matter of 
denying his wife, and the conduct of Abimeleck 
in the matter. On each of these subjects we 
present an extract. 

His residence, at the time the angels visited 
him, was the plain of Mamre, near Hebron, 
and the manner in which he received them 
shows well his Christian courtesy, and simple 
style of living. After receiving them, " He 
hastened to the tent of Sarah, and said, make 
ready quickly three measures of fine meal,' 1 
etc. Gen. xviii., 6 — 8. 

" The provisions here furnished were such as 
were calculated to do travelers good — cakes of 
fine meal, baked according to custom on the 
hearth, and butter, and milk, and the flesh of 
a calf just killed, which is highly prized by 
travelers, as tender and juicy. There is no 
senseless parade, no nauseating compliments, 
no scolding or whipping to hasten the servants 
in the preparation of dinner for travelers unex- 
pectedly arrived. The truth is, there was 
nobody to scold;* each family in Abraham's 
household occupied their own tent, and attended 
to their own business. He and Sarah needed 
no waiters. She could do all the work in a 
tent where only two persons lived. She cooked 
13 



146 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



for herself and her husband, and if strangers 
unexpectedly visited them, he assisted her, 
and did the waiting at the table. Thus, every- 
thing in and about that tent would be calm 
and quiet, as a prophet, devoted to meditation 
and prayerful preparation for the sabbath, 
ought to have it. 

" A splendid traveler, with about as much 
sense and taste as the king of Sodom, might be 
offended at such simplicity. But a broken- 
hearted sinner, who had come to inquire of 
the man of God how he might be saved, would 
not be disturbed by it. And we are sure that 
the Lord of glory and his attendants were not 
displeased. 

" After the destruction of the cities of the 
plain, for their wickedness, by fire from heaven, 
Abraham removed from the place where the 
angels visited him, to Gerar, convenient to the 
royal residence of the kings of the Philistines ; 
there he again denied his wife. In conse- 
quence of which, Abimelech, the king of the 
Philistines, took her to grace his harem. But, 
in obedience to directions given him by God, 
in a vision, he restored her to Abraham, at the 
same time reproving him for his conduct, and 
in the spirit of a genuine penitent, determines 
that he will make restitution as far as in his 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



147 



power, for the pain and sorrow lie had occa- 
sioned. 'And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, 
and men servants, and women servants, and 
gave them unto Abraham, and restored him 
Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, 
my land is before thee, dwell where it pleaseth 
thee.' This is the only case in which ever 
Abraham was known to receive a present. He 
had a good reason for not receiving any thing 
from the king of Sodom. He was a mean man, 
and would take occasion to injure religion. But 
Abimelech was a gentleman, and a penitent, 
and it would have been unkind to refuse his 
presents. Should the day ever come, when 
congregations will be composed of people who 
live by stealing cattle, and when ministers 
can be found who, for the sake of a salary, will 
engage to preach comfortable sermons to them, 
it will no doubt be discovered, that these were 
all stolen cattle, and that Abraham received 
them knowing them to be stolen ; and then 
many a sermon will be preached from this text, 
to prove that stealing sheep, and oxen, and 
other things is a Divine institution — that it 
originated in heaven, and that it was practiced 
by Abraham, and some of the best men of the 
old dispensation. 

" It is a common thing to transfer claims on 



148 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



servants employed as tenants, or keepers of 
cattle. The purest minds see no injustice 
in it. The term for which they were bound, 
in this instance, would expire before Abraham 
departed." 

Here our extracts from the life of Abraham 
end. 'SYe have, we think, presented enough, 
not merely to illustrate and explain many sub- 
jects little understood, in the patriarchal 
economy, but also enough to show, that the 
work itself will well repay a perusal. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



149 



CHAPTEE IV. 

"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the 
things of others." 

It is a lamentable fact, in religion and in 
morals, that practice so slowly follows theory, 
and only paralleled by the still more lament- 
able fact, that a continuance in the practice of 
evil often leads to the change of theory, to 
make it correspond with the desired practice. 

We have an illustration of both these facts, 
in the history of American slavery. With the 
second we have at present nothing to do. The 
first we can not help noticing as connected with 
the subject which shall form the theme of the 
present chapter. 

In 1776 the publicly promulgated theory of 
the American people was, that " all men are 
created equal, and that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain unalienable rights j 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness." Yet, almost without a 
protest, a portion of their fellow-men were 
deprived of these rights, and that too by those 
holding the theory just alluded to. 



150 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



In the early period of the existence of our 
government ; the feeling among the people was 
in favor of abolishing the system, which vir- 
tually makes " might the rule of right." But 
by degrees it vanished before the selfish desire 
of obtaining ease, wealth, and power ; and soon 
there was to be found only here and there, and 
at particular epochs, a voice raised against it ; 
and, as far as we can learn, there was no organ- 
ized movement against the system until 1833, 
a period of fifty-seven years from the declara- 
tion of Independence. And that Dr. Crothers 
is entitled to some honor, as a mover in this 
matter, we think will presently appear. 

In the year 1831 he published fifteen letters, 
in the Cincinnati Journal, being an "Appeal to 
Patriots and Christians, in behalf of the en- 
slaved Africans." His letters could not but 
stir up some feeling on the subject wherever 
they were read, and to them, in a great degree, 
we attribute the organized movement which 
soon followed, to advocate the law of right as 
opposed to the law of might. Accordingly, in 
the place of his residence in the spring of the 
year 1833, a few months before the formation 
of the American Anti-Slavery Society, JsTew 
York, "The Abolition Society of Paint Val- 
ley" was formed. At its meetings sermons 
were preached, and essays read, by various 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



151 



ministers ; the theme of their subjects gener- 
ally being, that the Bible gives no sanction to 
any system of wrong or oppression, but on the 
other hand, in the strongest possible language, 
advocates the duty of " promoting justice, be- 
tween man and man," and that American 
slavery is a system of wrong and oppression. 
Before this society, at various times, Dr. 
Crothers both read essays and preached ; and 
some of his performances were published and 
circulated by the society, viz : " Strictures on 
African Slavery," and " The Gospel of the Typ- 
ical Servitude." 

Up to this time (1834) there were few anti- 
slavery publications in the country. Until the 
beginning of this year there was no anti-slavery 
periodical, then a monthly titled the "American 
Anti-Slavery Reports," was commenced at Xew 
York. Dr. Crothers, then, maybe regarded as 
one of the Fathers of our anti-slavery literature, 
and that you may see the manner in which he 
performed his work, as well as obtain informa- 
tion on this important subject, we will present 
some extracts, from a few of his published, 
essays, and letters on the subject of slavery. 
We do so, with the more pleasure, because we 
are satisfied there is yet much need for infor- 
mation on the subject, and also because we 
think few better arguments have yet been 



152 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



advanced against the system, than are fur- 
nished in his writings. 

In his " Appeal to Patriots and Christians, 
in behalf of enslaved Africans," published in 
1831, we find, among others, the following pro- 
positions stated, and defended : 

First. "It is (7. e. 3 the system of American 
slavery) opposed to both the temporal and 
eternal welfare of the slaves." 

Indeed, it looks somewhat " like trifling, to 
undertake, in a formal argument, to prove that 
the slavery in which the Africans are held, is 
opposed to their happiness in this life. We 
have only to look at their condition to see that 
they are robbed of those privileges which are 
most necessary to make life either pleasant or 
desirable. We shall not undertake to describe 
their situation. This is distressingly unneces- 
sary. Almost every corner of the civilized 
world has heard how they are exj30sed to pub- 
lic sale, and driven to distant markets like 
beasts, the separations which are daily made 
between the nearest relatives, regardless of such 
ties as those which bind husbands to their 
wives and children to their parents ; the brutal 
treatment which they suffer from the hands of 
unprincipled soul-drivers, . . and the ten 
thousand hardships, arising from their being 
deprived of the rights of men. . . Ourselves 



SAMUEL CR0TRERS. 



153 



being judges,, this oppressed people have the 
same right to freedom which we have. "We 
feel no disposition to prove that our fathers 
were either deluded rebels, or bare-faced liars, 
when they assert it, as a self-evident principle, 
that all men are free, both by nature and of 
right. . . Our treatment of the Africans is 
a foul stain on our national character. Eng- 
land boasts (and who would not boast of it) 
that the moment a slave sets his foot on her 
soil, or breathes her air, his shackles fall from 
him, and he is free. 

" What high-minded American, does not 
blush that the moment the same man is landed 
on our southern coast, the chains are riveted 
upon him, and he and his posterity, through all 
generations to come, are doomed to perpetual 
slavery. The American who is driven by mis- 
fortune to the desert of Sahara, and the Afri- 
can who is put ashore on some parts of our 
coast, share the same fate. In the one case the 
stranger is a white man, in the other he is a 
black. But in both cases because he is a 
stranger, far from his kindred and country, his 
cry excites no pity. The wandering Arab and 
the American slaveholder, are men of no 
mercy. But there is one great difference. The 
first care of the Mohammedan is, to persuade 
the captive to worship Allah and the prophet, 



154 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



that lie may be happy in another world, and 
if he consents, the horrors of his captivity are 
mitigated. But the Christian slaveholder pur- 
sues a course sadly different. How painful the 
reflection that we can find no parallel to our 
conduct, even among those who are considered 
the outcasts, and scandal of the human race. 
Let us hear one, who was never suspected of 
want of friendship for America — the great 
Lafayette : ' When I am indulging in my views 
of American prospects, and American liberty, 
it is mortifying to be told, that in that very 
country a large portion of the peojile are slaves. 
It is a dark spot on the face of the nation. Such 
a state of things can not always exist.' . . . 

Second. " Slavery is opposed to the eternal 
happiness of the slaves. 

" Could we believe that its evils are confined 
to the present life, we might be silent. . . It 
is, however, a fact that the slaveholding system 
gives masters the control of the privileges 
necessary to the sal vation of their slaves. The 
question whether they shall ever own a Bible, 
whether they shall learn to read or have leisure 
to peruse it, whether they shall ever enjoy a 
sabbath or hear the Gospel preached, or hear 
the name of a Saviour excepting from the lips 
of some blaspheming soul-driver, dej)ends on 
the caprice of their despots. How they fare in 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



155 



regard to all these privileges, in a country 
where a large portion of the slaveholders are 
irreligious, no thinking man will ever inquire. 
If it be true, that it is by means that God ordi- 
narily saves souls, the ingenuity of man could 
not contrive a more sure plan for the destruc- 
tion of a brother's soul, than to make him the 
slave of some hater of Christianity. 

" Again, it is a fact that slaves are deprived of 
the privileges of instructing or governing their 
children. They are kept in a state of ignorance 
which disqualifies them — the interference of 
their master's authority, and frequently sepa- 
ration from their children, render it impracti- 
cable. . . In the fifth commandment God 
has constituted parents the governors and in- 
structors of their own children. This, like all 
his arrangements, is kind and wise. If any 
one will have compassion on the soul of a child, 
and show it the path to heaven, and caution it 
against those ways which lead to destruction, 
surely the parents will. ~No others can train a 
child with equal facility. A little child consid- 
ers its father and mother the wisest persons on 
earth, and it will pay comparatively no atten- 
tion to the instruction and example of others. 
In all God's arrangements, both under the old 
and new dispensation, care is manifestly taken 
that a child should not be separated from its 



156 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



parents, but especially from its mother. Ac- 
cording to the law of Moses, the child of a 
female servant could not be taken from her by 
its father. If he wished to be with it. he must 
stay with her master till she was free. Any 
system which separates parents from their 
offspring, is an original invention of the de- 
stroyer. Its object is, to ruin the souls of men 
by nipping them in the bud. If a professor of 
2'eligion ever looks like a devil, it is when he is 
separating, for the market, a husband and a 
father, who is pleading. -I love my wife, and 
my children.' . . Let no one tell us that our 
slaveholding professors and ministers are too 
good to sell husbands from their wives, and 
little children from their mothers. It is not 
true. They can not avoid it. the moment they 
become involved in debt, so that their properly 
shall be liable to execution. They know this, 
and hence the deliberate villainy of ail slave- 
holding, for the sake of gain. . . The nature 
of the slaveholding system forbids the expecta- 
tion of slaves ever being successfully trained 
for future happiness, by their masters. Has 
God any where promised to bless the example 
of professors who at the same time they attempt 
to instruct a man. are robbing him of his lib- 
erty, and defrauding him of his hire. Without 
evidence to the contrary, we would as soon 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



157 



expect to hear of a foot-pad converting trav- 
elers by talking piously to them, while ho 
holds a pistol to their breasts to enforce his 
demand for their money. . . . It is a fact, 
that there are frequently more pious slaves on 
the farms of wicked men. than of those who 
make a profession of religion. This is what 
might be expected. In the ordinary course of 
things, an ignorant slave will hate a religion, 
the profession of which he sees daily associated 
with what he considers the practice of injustice 
and oppression, and will brace himself against 
instruction coming from such a quarter. On 
the other hand, some respect for Christianity 
may be expected among those who see hatred 
of it daily connected with tyranny. 

" They are everywhere deprived of the privi- 
lege of the common schools, by public opinion 
if not by the laws of the land. In some States 
sabbath schools, for the purpose of teaching 
Africans to read the Bible, are put under the 
ban of the law. In some they are forbidden 
to assemble after dark, the only season on 
which their masters afford them leisure. In 
others they are to be punished, if caught in an 
assembly the majority of which are not whites. 
In most cases the question respecting the white 
quorum can not be ascertained until it is like- 
wise decided, whether the black man shall 



158 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



have his quota of lashes, In our southern 
region they have given the system the finish- 
ing touch. They have made it a sin. punisha- 
ble by the judges, for black men to assemble at 
any time, or for any purpose. . . . Magis- 
trates, etc.. are required to break open doors, 
if necessary, and inflict the specified number of 
lashes, to deter them from the repetition of the 
offense. ZSTo doubt this effectually deters all, 
who are not already Christians, and possessed 
of the spirit of martyrdom. But. to make 
assurance doubly sure, privately teaching 
slaves to read. is. by several States, made 
penal. The late acts of some Southern States, 
decide that any one who will teach a colored 
person, bond or free, to read, shall be pun- 
ished by fine, or whipping, or imprisonment. 
We can not, easily, conceive of anything more, 
which man can do. to insure their destruction. 

•'A^rain: Slavery is, and always has been con- 
demned hy the Word of God, Xo one. so far as 
we know, pretends to justify every thing con- 
nected with the present system. If you object 
to depriving the slaves of the privilege of 
reading the Bible and hearing the Gospel, or 
to any of the cruelties which are daily prac- 
ticed upon them, you will be admonished to be 
prudent, and reminded that these are delicate 
subjects, and that it does not belong to Christ- 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



159 



ians to meddle with civil matters, and how 
beautiful the apostles behaved in this respect. 
To soften you down they will whine out a 
lamentation about the abuses of slavery — a 
phrase which is just as Scriptural as the ' abuses 
of sin.' But to reconcile you to the system, 
with all its appendages, they will tell you, 
that the Scriptures justify slavery. And infi- 
dels, catching it from the lips of Christians, 
will tell you, with a cutting sneer — the Scrip- 
tures justify slavery. We might be excused 
from attempting to prove a negative. We shall 
state, however, as briefly as we can, a few facts: 
" And First. The law of Closes did authorize 
and regulate voluntary servitude, but it did not 
permit slavery. We undertake the proof of 
this position, with a full persuasion of its truth, 
and importance, but with melancholy feelings. 
We live in an age of very little regard for this 
law. We know that it was the revealed will 
of God, that it was given to regulate his pecu- 
liar people ; that it inculcated all those disposi- 
tions toward God, one another, and the world, 
which were pleasing in his sight. We know 
that it was the means which he emj)loyed to pre- 
pare them for heaven ; that being typical in most 
of its features, it was the shadow of good things 
to come ; that it was a schoolmaster to bring 
Israel to Christ ; that the apostles speak of it 



160 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



as a law which is good, and profitable to Christ- 
ians, if they use it lawfully — and that they are 
perpetually referring to it for explanation of 
the terms which they employ, and the dispo- 
sitions and duties which they inculcate, and 
the blessings which they tender to perishing 
sinners. ~We know that holy men of old were 
in the habit of expressing their admiration of 
its holiness and purity: £ Oh how I love thy 
law; it is my meditation all the day.' We 
know that it was disregard to that law which 
ruined all who perished under that dispensa- 
tion. Yet we find many Christians, in the 
present age, very shy of it. Young people 
consider it unintelligible, and many old people 
consider it not very edifying, and so have their 
fears that it cherishes dispositions not very 
consistent with the spirit of the Gospel ! How 
has this sad state of things been brought about? 
It would be soothing could we doubt the truth 
of the following remark. Those professors of 
religion who advocate slavery, have done more 
toward bringing the Old Testament Scriptures 
into disrepute, and toward degrading the Old 
Testament Church, and Old Testament saints, 
than all the infidels of the age. Mark the 
manner in which they defend slaveholding. As 
a sort of foil to the character of a Christian 
slave-master, Abraham, and the other worthies 



SAMUEL BROTHERS. 



161 



of old, must have been slaveholders too, and 
in partnership, indirectly at least, with the 
kidnappers of their day. To give a slavehold- 
ing church a more cheerful appearance, the 
Old Testament Church, throughout the whole 
period of her existence, must have been a 
society of those who vexed and oppressed the 
stranger, and turned him aside from his rights. 

" The following, as we conceive, are some of 
the occasions of Christians gliding easily into 
the conclusion, that slavery was not inconsist- 
ent with the law of Moses : 

" First. A misunderstanding, or misrepre- 
sentation of the fact, that the Israelites were 
commanded to wage an exterminating war 
with the slave nations. The Lord assigns two 
reasons for this — the cup of their iniquity was 
full, and if permitted, they would drag down 
to hell with them, all over whom they could 
acquire influence. Is it fair to infer from this, 
that Israel were a people of licensed cruelty? 
Has not the righteous Judge of all the earth, 
been blotting out nations and tribes for their 
sins, in every age? Does it follow, that the 
Gospel is cruel ? ... Is the sheriff a man 
of licensed cruelty, because the law of the land 
makes it his duty to take the murderer and 
hang him by the neck till he is dead ? Is he 
less humane, at the moment of executing his 
14 



162 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



office, than the spectator who is weeping at a 
distance, through the whole scene? We must 
recollect, that though the Israelites were com- 
manded to give those nations no quarter in 
battle, every thing like vexing or oppressing 
them, in their individual intercourse, was 
strictly forbidden. 

Second. A disposition to judge of the law of 
Moses, by the conduct of those to whom it was 
given, has misled many. Some Christians 
judge the law in the same way that infidels 
judge the Gospel — not by its own merits, but 
by the sins of those who were but partly under 
its influence, or the wickedness of those who 
were not under its influence at all. . . . It 
is absurd to appeal to the practice of the Jews. 
"We know that they refused to let their breth- 
ren go at the end of six years. Jer. xxiv. But 
for this sin the prophet \tas sent to them, with 
one of the fiercest threatenings recorded in the 
Bible. It was for this sin they were chastised 
with seventy years captivity. The law, and 
not the wickedness of those who transgressed 
it, is our rule. 

" Third. Another species of unfairness is, 
appealing to historical, or prophetical passages 
the interpretation of which is doubtful. The 
prophets, sometimes, describe the prosperity 
of Israel by allusions to the pagan custom of 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



163 



making slaves of captives taken in war. But, 
to infer that the custom was agreeable to the 
will of God, would be as unfair as to infer that 
there is no sin in being a thief, or unjust 
judge, because our Lord and his apostles, 
sometimes allude to such characters. The only 
safe and honest way of ascertaining what the 
law did permit, is, by looking at the law itself, 
and not at something else. 

Fourth. But the most palpable absurdity, is 
that of measuring the law of Moses by the 
practice of our own times. We have been 
accustomed, from our infancy, to hear of slave- 
holding Christians and ministers. "We associate 
the practice of this sin with the highest attain- 
ments in grace. When we hear, therefore, of 
the patriarchs under the Old Testament, hav- 
ing servants, bought with their money, and 
born in their house, we explain these phrases 
by a reference to slaveholding establishments 
around us, and we are not shocked by any 
attempts to make the law of Moses speak in 
accordance with the slave laws of our time. 

"Let us not permit our understandings to be 
imposed upon in any of these ways, while we 
inquire, What kind of servitude did the laws, 
given to the Jews, permit ? 

" 'First. A thief, who was too poor to make 
full restitution, might be sold. Ex. xxii., 3. Of 



164 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 

course the man who would pay the requisite 
sum for the shortest term, would be the pur- 
chaser. 

" Second. There were hired servants whose 
term of service varied from one day to three 
years. 

" Third. Israelites, who had waxed poor, 
might sell themselves to their brethren for six 
years. Lev. xxv. (He might, also, sell himself 
to a stranger in the land, for the same time, 
but redeemable at any time. Lev. xxv., 47 — 50.) 

" Fourth. The Jews were permitted to buy 
bond-men and bond-women. Lev. xxv. They 
were to be obtained only by purchase. These 
were to be of the heathen round about them, 
or of the strangers that sojourned among them, 
or of the families which they begat in their 
land, and were to serve them forever, in the 
Jewish sense of the phrase (i. e., until the 
Jubilee). . . . The master was required to 
circumcise them (Gen. xvii., 27), and admit 
them to the passover (Exodus xii., 44), pro- 
vided they were not somehow disqualified. By 
admission to these ordinances they became 
children of Abraham, and servants of the liv- 
ing God. We cheerfully submit to any candid 
man, the question, whether, when thus prose- 
lyted, they were not entitled to all the privi- 
leges of Abraham's seed. . . . But every 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



165 



fiftieth year put an end to the bondage of all 
who were not released in the seventh year. 
1 Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim 
liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhab- 
itants thereof' etc. Lev. xxv. Xot only did 
those whose possessions had been sold, recover 
them in this year, but those who were in bond- 
age were restored to the enjoyment of their 
liberty. . . . On the day of atonement, they 
blew a jubilee trumpet, and in a few hours the 
sound of trumpets was heard over all the land. 
If those who were bound to their masters for- 
ever (in the legal sense of that phrase) were 
inhabitants of the land, it was the signal of 
their freedom. If they were not released, the 
trumpet had neither meaning nor influence. 
They were the only persons in bondage. All 
others had been liberated the year before, by 
the Jubilee of the seventh year. Our Lord, 
also, places the matter beyond a doubt, when 
he defines the difference between a servant and 
a son. 1 The servant abideth not in the house 
forever, but the son abideth ever.' He here 
assumes it as a well known fact, that there was 
no servant in Israel, whose interest and con- 
nection with a house, was permanent as that 
of a son. 

" Fifth. If a Hebrew male or female servant, 
who had served an Israelite six years, had 



166 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



formed an attachment to the master and family, 
and found that it was pleasant and good to 
remain with them, they might engage to re- 
main forever (i. e. 3 until the Jubilee). It 
appears (Exod. xxi., 1 — 7) that the marriage 
of a female with a servant, who was to be free 
the seventh year, was not to affect her engage- 
ment to her master. Thus she was saved from 
temptation to throw herself away; bv marrying 
a worthless husband for the sake of a speedy 
release. A servant who had married a female 
of this description, could not at the expiration 
of his term take his child with him — a child 
must not be separated from its mother. But 
he might again bind himself to his master for- 
ever, and thus the whole family would be free 
together, at the jubilee. But great care was to 
be taken, that no fraud or imposition was prac- 
ticed. The judges must be assembled, and he 
must plainly say. I love my wife and children, 
I will not go out free.' 

" Sixth. TTho were the ' servants born in the 
house? ' We hear of two men who had servants 
of this description, viz : Abraham and Solomon. 
We answer, they were persons who became 
servants in the same house in which they had 
been born, in consequence of attachment to the 
man who had taken care of them during in- 
fancy and youth. Does it look like justice to 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



167 



the spirit of the law of Moses, to suppose that 
it gave every rich man, who could buy the 
service of his poor neighbors, power to kidnap 
all the little babes that were born on his prem- 
ises, because the parents were poor? The 
statute is express to the contrary. We have 
seen, that the servant, when his term expired, 
was to 'go oat free, both he and his children 
with him.' The fifth commandment has given 
to all parents the government of their own 
children. Any human law which deprives 
them of this privilege, till they forfeit it by 
crime, is at war with heaven. When parents 
sold their services, their having children who 
must be with them, and must be fed and clothed, 
was of course taken into consideration by the 
purchaser. 

' : They no doubt brought up their children to 
industry, of which the man on whose resources 
they were living, enjoyed the profit. Bat it 
was through the parents that he governed the 
children of his servants. One of God's institu- 
tions never contradicts or clashes with another. 
He wrote it on a table of stone, that children 
shall honor their father and mother. . . . The 
Bible never calls little children servants — they 
are never called servants till they serve. . . . 
Were the servants, born in Abraham's house, 
slaves whom he had doomed to perpetual 



168 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



'bondage from their birth, because he or bis 
fathers had hired some scapegallows to kidnap 
their parents? Did Abraham keep them in 
ignorance of the way of salvation, lest they 
should kill him? . . . Every mention of 
this kind of servants proves, that between them 
and their master there existed a mutual confi- 
dence, a friendship, and a community of inter- 
est which was peculiar. In Abraham's day 
they were the heirs of their master's estate, 
next to his sons. Gen. xv., 2. . . . We 
search the law of Moses in vain for permission 
for any other than voluntary servitude. 

" The following facts, we apprehend, go to 
prove, that perpetual, involuntary, or heredit- 
ary servitude, of any kind, was not tolerated 
by the law of God : 

" First. The law of Moses required the Isra- 
elites to treat the poor and strangers in a way 
which is irreconcilable with making them 
slaves. ... It was only when they met 
the seven nations in battle., that they were to 
show no pity. The law is. ; Thou shalt neither 
vex a stranger, nor oppress him, for ye were 
strangers in the land of Egypt." 1 Thou shalt 
not oppress a stranger, for ye know the heart 
of a stranger, for ye were strangers in the land 
of Egypt.' 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself.' Now, we ask any man, who regards 



SAMUEL CKOTHERS. 



169 



the ninth commandment, Do you believe that 
when you are making a man a slave, you are 
not vexing nor oppressing him, and that you 
are loving him as yourself? 

" The law respecting manstealing is decisive 
in regard to slaveholding : He that stealeth a 
man, and selleth him. or if he be found in his 
hands, he shall surely be put to death/ — Ex. 
xxi., 16. . . Xow a lavr to punish the man- 
steal er with death in a country where there are 
no slaves, is the most decisive evidence which 
can be given, of abhorrence of slavery. It was 
when the Israelites had just left the house of 
bondage, and were on their way to the prom- 
ised land, that it was enacted that the man- 
stealer should be put to death. If they might 
have slaves, why must the man who would fur- 
nish them die ? In what imaginable way can 
men be made slaves, in a country where there 
are none already, if menstealers must not exist ? 
By what process of reasoning can it be made to 
appear, that while the man who would steal 
another and sell him, is in the sight of Heaven 
and earth guilty of a sin for which he ought to 
die, the man who buys the stolen man and 
makes him a slave, and pays the thief his hire, 
may be in the sight of earth and Heaven a good 
Christian? The unbiased judgment of all 
mankind decides, that he who receives things 
15 



170 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



stolen, knowing them to be such, is a partner 
with the thief in guilt, and the laws of all civ- 
ilized nations decide that he shall be a partner 
with him in punishment. 

u Third. The law of Moses required that the 
moment a slave set his foot within the limits 
of the Holy Land, he should be free, and the 
whole nation should protect him against his 
master : 1 Thou shalt not deliver unto his mas- 
ter, the servant which is escaped from his master 
unto thee, he shall dwell with thee, even among 
you, in that place which he shall choose, in 
one of the gates where it liketk him best, thou 
shalt not oppress him." — Dent, xxiii.. 15-16. 

'•'Fourth. There is no name for a slave in the 
law of Moses, or in the Old Testament, except- 
ing Jer. ii., 14, where it is a mere supplement 
by the translators. . . In Judea there was 
no use for such a name, it was one of the glo- 
ries of that land, that according to the law 
which God gave it. the moment a man set his 
foot upon it and breathed its air, he was free. 

'•'Fifth. The Jews were not allowed to make 
slaves of captives taken in war. . . Surely 
the law respecting manstealing, decides this 
question. If one man who goes out and brings 
in a captive must die, how could it be lawful 
for five hundred to do so? Is manstealing offen- 
sive only when it is practiced on a small scale ? 



SAMUEL CE0THERS. 



171 



u The statutes respecting slaves who had run 
away, decides it. 

" A slave would not be worth bringing home, 
if in three hours he could run away, and oblige 
the nation to protect him. How does it come 
that in the law and the historical parts of the 
Old Testament, we never meet with slaves in 
Judea, if they might enslave their captives? 
. . In regard to the seven nations, whose land 
was given to the Israelites, they were forbidden 
to take any captives.— Deut. vii., 1-3. The 
same thing is prohibited, Deut. xx., 16-18. 

" The remaining question is, how were they 
required to treat the other heathen nations, 
called " the nations afar off?" The directions 
are particular. — Deut. xx; 'When thou comest 
nigh unto a city to fight. . . If it will make 
no peace with thee, but will make war against 
thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when 
the Lord thy God, hath delivered it unto thy 
hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof, 
with the edge of the sword. But the women 
and the little ones, and the cattle and all that 
is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt 
thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the 
spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord hath 
given thee. Thus shalt thou do unto the cities 
which are very far off from thee, which are not 
of the cities of those nations.' Here is one of 



172 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



those affecting spectacles, which the horrid 
trade of war often presents — a city in which 
every wife is widow, and every child is father- 
less. TThat shall be done with them? The 
permission to eat the spoil and take the women 
and little ones, evidently implies permission to 
take them home. A slaveholder conld explain 
this : • Make slaves of them and their children, 
to the end of time. If you have nothing for 
them to do. sell them and live on the proceeds 
of the sale.' But a voice from heaven speaking 
through the law interposes a threatening and 
prohibition, which makes our ears tingle : ¥ Ye 
shall not afflict a widow, or fatherless child, if 
thou afflict them in anywise and they cry at 
all unto me. I will surely hear their cry. and 
my wrath shall wax hot. and I will kill you 
with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, 
and your children fatherless." — Ex. xx.. 22-24. 
But how can all those widows and orphans be 
provided for. unless made slaves? The law of 
Moses made abundant provision for them. It 
was for the support of the stranger and widow, 
the fatherless and the Levites. that the tithe or 
tenth part of the increase of all the land, was 
taken up every third year. — Dent. xiv.. 25-29. 
There were also other arrangements in their 
favor. ■ TVhen ye reap the harvest of your 
land ; thou shalt not wholly reap the corners 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



173 



of thy field neither shalt thou gather the glean- 
ings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean 
thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every 
grape of thy vineyard, thou shalt leave them 
for the poor and the stranger; I am the Lord.' — 
Lev. xix., 9-10, and also Deut. xix., 19-21. 

" Sixth. The law of Closes did not permit the 
Jews to buy for slaves the captives taken in 
■war by other nations. This would be neither 
more nor less than mansteaiing by proxy, or 
making slaves of captives by proxy. All the 
guilt and consequences of mansteaiing and 
carrying on slave-making wars, would attend 
the hiring others to do it. and hence it would 
conflict with statutes already noted. 

" Slavery was not permitted in the Christian 
Church by the apostles. . . While the law 
of Moses ruled, there was no necessity for a 
word to designate a slaveholder. During that 
period the touch of the law of liberty, made a 
slave a freeman, provided he chose to dwell 
there. . . But when churches were planted 
in pagan countries, when slaves and voluntary 
servants and their masters and slaveholders, 
were all living in the same neighborhood, and 
all but the latter, in the same church, it was 
necessary to employ some name to express the 
ugly idea of a usurper of God"s authority, and 
a robber of his fellow-men. This was necessary 



174 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



to distinguish his servants from other servants, 
and his own character from that of a Christian 
master. Accordingly, we find two names, 
Tcurios and despotes. The former is the name for 
such masters as were recognized by the Jewish 
law. and we find it everywhere in the Xew 
Testament. The latter is found (when applied 
to men) only in the epistles. They are both 
translated master, the latter, however, we for 
the sake of distinction shall translate despot. 
The despots evidently belonged to the world. No 
such persons are named by our Lord or the 
evangelists, as living in Judea. The apostles 
speak of them, only when writing to Christians 
in pagan countries, but never name them ex- 
cepting when addressing or speaking of their 
servants. They are never addressed as Chris- 
tians or recognized as members of the Church. 
. . As the titles master and servant had been 
used from the days of Abraham, and as the law 
of Moses had fixed their precise meaning by 
defining the relations and duties connected with 
them, it is a matter of course, that we appeal 
to that law. (We protest against the principle 
that we must fix the precise meaning of the 
terms employed in the yew Testament, and 
also in the Old, by appealing to pagan writers. 
. . Such a mode of interpretation is contrary 
to that fundamental principle in Protestantism, 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



175 



£ The infallible rule of interpretation of Scrip- 
ture, is the Scripture itself, and therefore when 
there is a question about the true and full sense 
of Scripture, which is not manifold but one, it 
must be searched, and known by other places 
that speak more clearly.') . . . The law 
of servitude like most of the regulations in 
the law of Moses, was typical. It is in allu- 
sion to this that the terms master and servant 
are used, to express the relation existing 
between the Saviour and all believers. The 
apostles loved to call him (kurios) master. 
They gloried in the title, servants of Jesus 
Christ. They would not have exchanged it. 
for that of Caesar. It reminded them of the 
deep poverty in which the Saviour found them, 
and of their obligations to serve him. They 
were in a spiritual sense poor wandering out- 
casts, deeply in debt, perishing with hunger, 
and nakedness. But he took them in, paid off 
their debts, to law and justice, engaged to feed 
and clothe, and take care of them, till that 
long sabbatical year shall come, in which the 
master and servants shall rejoice together, in 
the fruit of their labors. It is not strange that 
we find masters in the Church from the begin- 
ning. There is no sin in buying the services 
of a poor man, who wishes to sell them, The 



176 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



relation of master, is as consistent with all the 
requirements of God's law, as that of husband 
or father. Such a man never was affronted, in 
the times of the apostles, by being called by 
the same name that designated the wretch who 
hired the manstealer. 

" Despotes, or despot is the name of slave- 
holders, I. Pet. ii., 18 ; Tit. iL, 9 ; I. Tim. vi., 
1, 2. . . . We should not have known that 
despots repented in the apostolic age, were it 
not for the direction the apostle gives (L Tim. 
vi., 2) their servants, about continuing with 
them after their conversion. It would be 
natural for even a pious slave, who was yet 
smarting under severe treatment, to refuse to 
serve in any capacity his despot, the moment 
he saw him put himself under the care of the 
Church, and of course under the necessity of 
letting the oppressed go free. The apostle 
acknowledges his power to refuse to serve him, 
but advises not to despise him > because he is a 
brother, but rather to do him service. Being 
poor, and obliged to be a servant somewhere, 
it would be better to serve a repenting brother, 
than throw himself out of employment, and give 
occasion for suspicions of want of a forgiving 
temper. There was a propriety in using the 
phrase, 1 believing despot ' in this case. The 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



177 



allusion is to the time when the character of 
the despot ceased, and that of believer com- 
menced. But he never uses it again. 

"To revive the memory of old scandals, or 
throw the sins of a repenting brother in his 
face, after they have been forgiven, and he has 
turned away from them, is unchristian. When 
he addresses those who had been despots, he 
addresses them simply as believers ; or, if their 
servants continued with them, he calls them 
masters, as though he did not think they had 
ever been guilty of such wickedness. . . . 
We have the same evidence of the slavehold- 
ers' exclusion, that we have of the manstealer 
being excluded. They are partners of the 
same firm, yet it is nowhere said, that the 
manstealer ought not to be received into the 
Church. We know that his profession is incon- 
sistent with the Gospel, and he is mentioned 
(I. Tim. i., 18) as in bad company. The same 
thing is true of the slaveholder. . . . The 
apostles exclude slaveholders in the same way 
in which they exclude pugilists, pirates, duel- 
ists, play-actors, cock-fighters, horse-racers, 
and wire-dancers, and a host of others, whose 
reception into the Church would make it a 
house of infamy. 

" The apostles condemn slaveholders in all 
their epistles. They set their faces as flints 



178 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



against covetousness, and injustice, and oppres- 
sion in every form. We shall not detail any 
of those rules which they have given us. There 
is scarcely a page in the Sew Testament in 
which the wickedness of robbing a man of his 
freedom, and the price of his labor is not con- 
demned in some form." 

His remaining letters are chiefly occupied 
with showing the fallacy of the arguments in 
favor of. and the apologies for slavery. And 
on account of his great powers of sarcasm, he 
does it in a way which must have been very 
annoying to its advocates. We have only room 
for one more extract. It is in reply to the 
apology, H It is necessary to keep the Africans 
in slavery to avoid the evils of emancipation." 

" It vras a masterly stroke in a lively old 
Scotch writer, who, for the purpose of making 
a certain clan an object of mingled hatred and 
contempt, represented them as thus asserting 
their honesty: 'We are an honest race of peo- 
ple ; we never steal, excepting a little now and 
then, for a living, when it is necessary.' But 
this is j)recisely the apology for the present 
system of slaveholding. 'We never rob our 
neighbors, especially of their liberty, excepting 
when it is necessary to avoid the evils of 
emancipation. And we are a Christian people; 
w T e never ruin souls by depriving men of the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



179 



means of salvation, excepting when it is neces- 
sary to make them obedient and contented 
slaves.' A great poet is supposed to have been 
in one of his finest phrenzies when he con- 
ceived the idea of exhibiting Satan in all his 
hatefulness, by making him justify his wicked- 
ness by the naked plea, necessity. It was a 
matter of course, that a plea so devilish, should 
produce a shout in an assembly of wide-mouthed 
fiends. But it is now the favorite among the 
advocates of slavery. It is passing strange 
that no other apology has been substituted, or 
that this one has never assumed a less bare- 
faced appearance. We know that the Father 
of lies has talents for inventing and polishing 
falsehoods, so as to make them look like the 
truth. But whether it be, that when professors 
of religion turn slaveholders, he delights in 
exposing them with so thin a covering, or that 
this is a case that defies his power, or that the 
influence of the slaveholding spirit supersedes 
the necessity of every thing better, it is a 
fact that necessity is the slaveholder's plea." 

Two years after the publication of these let- 
ters, societies began to be organized, all over 
the Northern States for the hastening on the 
abolition of slavery. The first, or at least 
among the first, in Greenfield, the home of 
Dr. Crothers ; then in the city of New York, 



180 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



and afterward in almost every corner of the 
north. 

The societies were composed of men acting 
with both the great political parties of that 
day, and were formed for the purpose of diffus- 
ing knowledge on the sinfulness of the system 
of slavery, existing in the Southern States ; and 
in this way persuade those engaged in it, to 
cease their sinful practices. The agitation 
being fully commenced, soon found its way 
into those branches of the Church, where it had 
not before this time, been considered, or dis- 
posed of, by excluding slaveholders from mem- 
bership. 

This was virtually done by the Associate Ee- 
formed Presbyterian Church in the year 1830, 
by the passing of the following, among other 
resolutions, on the subject : 

" 1. Resolved, That the religion of Jesus 
Christ requires that involuntary slavery 
should be removed from the Church, as soon 
as an opportunity, in the providence of God, is 
afforded to slave owners for the liberation of 
their slaves. 

"2. Resolved, That when there are no regu- 
lations of the State to prohibit it, when provis- 
ion can be made for the support of the freed- 
nien, when they can be placed in circumstances 
to support the rank, enjoy the rights, and 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



181 



discharge the duties of freemen, it shall be 
considered that such an opportunity is offered 
in the providence of God.* 

The following year (1831), the Associate Ee- 
formed Presbyterian Church disposed of the 
matter, by her synod passing the following, 
among other resolutions : 

1 Resolved, That as slavery is clearly con- 
demned by the law of God, and has long since 
been judicially declared to be a moral evil by 
this Church, no member shall, from and after 
this date, be allowed to hold a human being in 
the character and condition of a slave. 

2. Resolved, That this synod do hereby 
order all its subordinate judicatories to proceed 
forthwith to carry into execution the intention 
of the foregoing resolution, by requiring those 
Church members under their immediate inspec- 
tion, who may be possessed of slaves, to relin- 
quish their unjust claims, and release those 
whom they have heretofore considered as their 
property. 

Some time before this such action was taken 



^Hesolution 2d was amended in 1838 to read, " That an 
opportunity in the providence of God, shall be considered 
as afforded, when the master can emancipate his slave, 
and place him in circumstances where he shall not be 
liable to be immediately sold into bondage." 



182 



LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 



by the Eeformed Presbyterian Church, as vir- 
tually to exclude slaveholders. 

But the General Assembly Presbyterian 
Church, although from the year 1787, she had 
testified in favor of universal liberty and against 
the continuance of chattel slavery, yet had 
never excluded from her communion, slave- 
holders, and as a cod sequence thereof, the 
matter was continually coming up in the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in some form or other, and this 
fostered discussions on the subject, not only 
in the lower judicatories, but also in pam- 
phlets and newspapers.* Among the contest- 
ants. Dr. Crothers bore a conspicuous place, 
and we think evinced a familiarity with the 
subject, as far as Bible authority was con- 
cerned, second to none. 

Although in connection with the General 
Assembly, no man more firmly opposed its posi- 
tion — the position finally assumed in 1845, viz: 



* The General Assembly Presbyterian Church was di- 
vided into two parts in 1838; now known as the General 
Assembly (0. S.) and the General Assembly (X. S.). The 
New School Assembly has almost every year, in .the 
strongest language, condemned the system of slavery, as 
a sin against both God and man, yet strange to say, slave- 
holders and their abettors are yet unmolested, in full com- 
munion in that denomination. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



183 



c< That as the abstract relation, is not necessa- 
rily sinful, the Assembly hold that the mere 
fact that any persons in the southern portion 
of this country sustain that relation, can not, 
■without regard to the circumstances, be pro- 
nounced a sin, the renunciation of which shall 
be made a condition of membership in the 
Church of Christ ; or, in other words, that slave- 
holding under the circumstances in which it is 
found in the southern portion of this country, 
is not, in itself, a bar to Christian communion." * 

The Assembly in former years had used 
much stronger language, in condemnation of 
slavery than it did in 1845, especially in 1818, 
yet it never took the ground that slaveholding 
in itself, was a scandal ; hence slaveholders 
being members, were always considered in 
good standing in the Church. 

And to make the practice of the Church ap- 
pear consistent, many of her ministers were led 
to write in defense of slavery. Among these 
were Drs. Hodge and Young. It would how- 
ever be doing injustice to both these gentlemen, 
to say, that they wished slavery perpetuated. 
On the contrary, we are persuaded they would 
both rejoice to see its end. Yet strange as it 
may appear, in order to defend the position of 



^Hand-Book on the Slavery question. 



184 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



their Church, they have written in defense of 
the system, and some of their writings was the 
occasion of again causing Dr. Crothers to buckle 
on his harness. Dr. Young in 1834 published 
some " Eemarks on the declaration and resolu- 
tions of the Synod of Kentucky, in reference to 
slavery," passed by the Synod the same year. 
It appears that the resolutions of the Synod 
had not been properly understood. Dr. Young 
wrote to explain and defend them, assuming as 
the principles taught in them — 

1. " The system of slavery (involuntary and 
hereditary bondage), is sinful. 

2. " It is not sinful in an individual to retain 
his legal authority over those of his servants, 
whom he sincerely and conscientiously believes 
to be unfit for freedom, while he is by the 
application of proper and vigorous means, 
preparing them for the right and beneficial 
enjoyment of liberty." 

Dr. Crothers replied in five letters published 
in the Cincinnati Journal, early in 1835. Let- 
ters, logical, witty, and here and there pieces 
of scathing sarcasm. We regret that we have 
only room for a few short extracts. 

In reply to the principle embodied in the 
first resolution, he says : 

" If it (slavery) be a sin it deserves God's 
wrath and curse both in this life, and in that 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



185 



which is to come." This is the doctrine 
respecting every sin, taught by the Bible, and 
in that summary of Bible truth which all ortho- 
dox Presbyterians revere. Surely then, the 
people under care of the synod are fairly 
warned, that they must repent and abandon 
immediately tjieir sin, if they would not lose 
their souls, and be cut off from the communion 
of the church, by the faithful exercise of disci- 
pline. Or has it indeed come to this? Has 
the lust of unrighteous gain become so ram- 
pant in the Presbyterian Church, that a judica- 
tory constituted in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
will proclaim it to the world, as a part of her 
faith, that it is not always necessary to aban- 
don sin ? . . It seems that by slavery must 
not be understood, involuntary bondage merely, 
but that which is hereditary and perpetual. 
. . Let us see in what light this explanation 
exhibits the synod of Kentucky. For a whole 
year, the public had been expecting with much 
solicitude, a decision of the all-absorbing ques- 
tion — is slaveholding a sin against God and 
man ? Accordingly, that venerable body met, 
and having solemnly been constituted in the 
name of the great head of the church, decided 
by an overwhelming majority, that — " The 
system of absolute and hereditary domestic 
slavery, as it exists among the members of 
16 



186 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



our communion, is repugnant to the principles 
of our holy religion, as revealed in the sacred 
Scriptures/' etc. Nine-tenths of plain readers, 
considered this a decision of the question, which 
had so long agitated the community. Slave- 
holders writhed under it, and abolitionists con- 
sidered it a triumph. But it seems the synod 
has outwitted us all. They never touched the 
question of involuntary servitude. They inge- 
niously framed their declaration, that it only 
condemns hereditary and perpetual slavery. 
And they solemnly played this trick on the 
Churches, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let 
us now see what slaveholders and gradualists 
have gained by this explanation, and w r hat 
addition it makes to our stock of good sense 
and sound theology. Whatever necessity ab- 
surd ideas may have occasioned for the phrase 
hereditary slavery, it is pure nonsense. We might 
as well talk of a child suffering an hereditary 
whipping, or dying of an hereditary murder. 
The self-evident principle on which our claim 
to freedom rests, is that all men are created, 
and born free and equal, whatever may be the 
place or circumstances of their birth. It seems 
the decision of the synod, is, not involuntary 
but hereditary slavery is sinful. Surely, if 
being robbed of our dearest rights is not a bad 
thing for the father, it must be good for the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



187 



child. Does mere heirship or hereditary descent, 
change the nature of things ? Did the inherit- 
ance assigned the Israelites as blessings become 
curses by the simple process of passing into 
the hands of their children? "Was the disease 
of Gehazi one thing to himself, and another 
thing to his seed ? . . To the second propo- 
sition he replied : 

4: If unfitness for freedom be one of the fruits 
of slavery, how long must the slaves be dosed 
with it. before they will be fit for its enjoy- 
ment 

Did you ever hear a slaveholder account for 
the wickedness of his slaves, who did not sol- 
emnly assert it as the result of his own experi- 
ence and observation, that for a master to train 
his slaves to habits of virtue and religion, is 
one of the impossibilities? How shall they be 
fitted under laws which forbid them to be in- 
structed ? . . But let us analyze the propo- 
sition. 

1. " Retain his legal authority " Legal in the 
eyes of what law ? 2s ot the law of God. Had 
the synod believed that the slaveholder's 
authority is derived from the same source 
with that of husbands and fathers, they would 
never have gravely debated whether it would 
be sinful to retain it. By legal authority is 
meant that which is derived from the slave 



188 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



laws of Kentucky. And what is the worth of 
a license from the powers that be. to sin against 
God? They permit slavery, and God forbids it, 
and where is the child of ten years old. who 
can not tell what is sin or duty in such a case? 
According to the Scriptures, refusal to comply 
with laws of man's making when they run 
counter to the laws of God. has in every age 
and in all circumstances, been the very test of 
a believer's fealty to his Saviour. 

2. - " Whom he sincerely and conscientiously believes 
to be unfit for freedom. " The notion that sin- 
cerely believing a thing to be right, makes it 
so. is so evidently heretical, and is so generally 
considered in that light by all orthodox Chris- 
tians, that it would scarcely be worth notice 
were it not that it is now pressed into the slave- 
holder's service, and therefore likely to become 
profitable and popular. . . Let us apply this 
principle. A slaveholder sincerely and consci- 
entiously believes that his slave is unfit for 
freedom. The slave conscientiously and sin- 
cerely believes that he is as fit for it as his 
master. Abolitionists conscientiously believe 
that all men ought to be free. Slaveholders 
conscientiously believe that some millions of 
men ought to be slaves. The rioters in New 
York sincerely believed, that they ought to 
pull down six churches. The civil authorities 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



189 



sincerely believed, that some of them ought to 
be shot. Some people sincerely and conscien- 
tiously believe, that the Pope is infallible. 
Their neighbors sincerely and conscientiously 
believe that he makes some mistakes. And 
they are all right, and all wrong. 

3. Unfit for freedom." By unfitness is evi- 
dently meant, want of education, and of a moral 
or religious character. And how much educa- 
tion must a man possess, and how much moral- 
ity or grace must he have attained to, before 
he has a right to be the owner of his body or 
soul? It is admitted that a man may forfeit 
his liberty by crime. But that a man by mere 
want of education and good character, forfeits 
that right to freedom which God gave him at 
his creation : and that his neighbors may hold 
him as a slave, provided they sincerely and 
conscientiously believe that he is unfit to be 
free, is one of the worst political heresies — now 
publicly avowed for the first time since the 
declaration of Independence. Are our good 
brethren of the Synod of Kentucky aware that 
they have, in effect, decided that it would be 
right for them to seize as a slave every unedu- 
cated white man. every drunkard, and swearer, 
and gambler, whom they shall sincerely believe 
to be unfit for freedom ? 

4. " While he is by the application of proper and 



190 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



vigorous meayis, preparing them for the right and 
beneficial enjoyment of liberty." It is a little 
rem a rkable that the moment any man becomes 
an apologist for slavery, he turns papist. The 
maxim that we may do evil that good may come, is 
one of the vilest heresies. "We never saw and 
never will see an argument of three pages in 
favor of continuing a little longer in sin — of 
robbing men of their freedom, and their wages 
which will not contain this or some other her- 
esy : for which in the good days of discipline, 
every minister would have been suspended 
from his office, until he gave satisfactory evi- 
dence of repentance. The fretting leprosy must 
be on that Church, in which one of the highest 
judicatories will advise their people under 
their care, to hold their brethren a little longer 
under a system of slavery, which has, in the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, been pronounced 
sinful (by that same court), provided they sin- 
cerely and conscientiously believe that they are 
doing good. The synod of Kentucky must 
never quarrel with papists for maintaining that 
the end sanctifies the deed." 
The same year (1835) Dr. Crothers fur- 
nished for the Quarterly Anti-Slavery Maga- 
zine, an article entitled — " The Harmony of 
Moses and the Apostles." In this article he 
shows : First, That there must of necessity be 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



191 



a harmony, as regards their teachings, on every 
point as far as principles are concerned, from 
the fact that they are revelations of the same God. 
If the Old Testament teaches one thing, and 
the New something else, of necessity, one or 
both must be the production of other than the 
pen of inspiration. Those, therefore, who say 
slavery was regulated and approved under the 
old dispensation, but forbidden under the new, 
virtually teach infidelity. If the principle was 
right then, it is right now ; but if wrong then, 
undoubtedly it is wrong now. He then, by anal- 
ysis of the law. shows that it every where teaches 
the same doctrines with the Xew Testament, 
and in his analysis has the following remarks 
regarding the theory that God once " licensed 
sin:" 

1. " It is popery in its origin and spirit." There 
can be no difficulty in tracking such a monster 
to its den. It is a twin sister of the famous 
doctrine of indulgences. By the one, the Pope 
filled his empty coffers. By the other, many a 
villain besides the Jesuits, has made his for- 
tune. Tetzel improved indulgences into licenses 
to commit sin. The doctrine of sinning by 
license from the great man of Borne, is at this 
hour believed and practiced by many. In our 
own country, under the light of the nineteenth 
century, they receive with great joy the news 



192 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF 



that a ship has brought a license to do that 
which would in their judgment be a damning 
sin, without such license — to eat meat on Fri- 
day. From the notion that " God's vicegerent " 
can license the violation of the moral law, the 
transition is easy to the principle, that God can 
do the same thing, and that he has done it, in the 
judicial law which he gave to his Church by 
Moses. One of these abominations all Protest- 
ants denounce. The other is defended by some 
as sound theology, on account of its conveni- 
ence in the defense of slaveholding, and some 
other favorite sins. 

2. It is naked blasphemy, inasmuch as it is at tear 
with God's moral character. He reveals himself 
as a God who can not look upon sin. For sin he 
has cast angels of heaven down to hell. For 
the transgression of his law, he has passed a 
sentence of condemnation upon all mankind. 
Who then has hardihood enough to say that he 
has himself licensed that for which he has 
damned angels and men. _ 

3. It is at war with the fact, that God sent his Son 
into the world to die for sinners. Were he a God 
who could look upon sin — were the transgres- 
sion of his law so light a matter, that he him- 
self could license it, and look upon it with 
approbation, we never should have heard of so 
expensive atonement, as the death of his Son. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS-. 



193 



4. It gives a frightful view of the office of a ruler 
in Israel. If it was his business to compel men 
to transgress the moral law. or protect men in 
doing it. his post was one which no good man 
could accept, and for which none but an incar- 
nate Devil could be qualified. 

Previous to the appearance of this article the 
opponents of slavery generally, yielded the Old 
Testament as favoring the system, and con- 
tended that we were under a new and better 
system, and therefore it was now sinful, though 
once approved and regulated. This admission 
was all that slaveholders required; they knew 
well if once approved by the unchangeable 
God, the principle was not in itself sinful, and 
hence the}' were in no danger of wrath for sus- 
taining the relation. 

This article doubtless did much (it was the 
opinion of its author that it did, and he was 
the last man to speak of his own achievements) 
to inculcate correct sentiment on this subject. 
And now we know of no anti-slavery writer of 
much note, who believes in the inspiration of 
the Scriptures, who allows, except for the sake 
of argument, that the Old Testament Scriptures 
favor slavery, in the common acceptation of 
that term. 

About two years after, he furnished for the 
same Magazine an article titled, " Slavery and 
17 



194 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the Biblical Eepertory." This was a review 
of a pamphlet containing the substance of an 
article which appeared in the "Eepertory" in 
1836, from the pen (as was generally supposed) 
of Dr. Hodge. In it the ground was taken, 
and that too. correctly, that to admit that 
slavery was a sin, and at the same time con- 
tend that the law of Moses authorized it, 
" would bring it into conflict with the eternal 
principles of morals, and our faith in the one or 
the other must be given up." So far the author 
of the pamphlet and Dr. Crothers agreed; 
the former, however, completed his syllogism 
thus : The law of Moses did authorize slavery, 
therefore it can not be in itself sinful. If the 
second premise be true the conclusion is inevi- 
table, and here they joined issue. The author of 
the pamphlet attempted to prove, that there are 
five ways in which the Israelites were allowed 
to make slaves, viz : c: By war, by purchase, by 
the right of creditor ship, by the sentence of a. judge, 
by birth, but not by seizing those tcho were free?* etc. 
On these subjects we present a few extracts 
from Dr. Crothers' review : 

" How shall we account for it that the untu- 
tored savages of Guinea have attained to the 
same perfection in the moral system of turning 
bodies and souls into property, as the profess- 
ors in our theological seminaries, with all the 



SAMUEL CR0THER8. 



195 



aids of revelation and science. Shall we ascribe 
it to the superiority of African intellect ? No ; 
our professors say they obtained theirs, by dili- 
gently studying the word of God. The Afri- 
cans obtained theirs by intercourse with some 
worthless foreigners, who taught them to make 
money by setting up a traffic in human bodies, 
and then the five ways became as necessary to 
its support, as air is to breathing. . . Does 
the professor of Biblical literature (Princeton) 
believe that these five ways of making men 
slaves, are a part of the whole counsel of God ) as 
revealed in the law of Moses, and are they a 
part of the Biblical instruction by which he is 
preparing our missionaries for foreign lands? 
If so, we may expect to hear that through their 
labors the slave-trade in Africa is reviving — 
that the missionary and his wife are trading 
with kidnappers, and storming the towns and 
hamlets around them, in imitation of what they 
tell us, was the example of Abraham and Sarah 
in Haran, when preparing to go to the prom- 
ised land. We may soon hear, that he is at the 
head of his three hundred and eighteen slaves, 
armed and trained to war, bidding defiance to 
the petty kings around them, and occasionally 
pursuing and slaughtering them for practicing 
the divine principle of slavery, by captivity. 
But perhaps these five ways are not taught in 



196 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



the Seminary, as a part of the word of God. 
Perhaps their publication was only a prudent 
maneuver for the purpose of abashing the abo- 
litionists, and preserving the union of JSTorthern 
and Southern sujDporters of the institution. . . 
Let us examine these ways of making slaves. 

1. By captivity. It is passing strange, that 
men devoted to the study of the Scriptures, 
should be so far in the rear as to imagine that 
making slaves of captives in war, was licensed 
in the Jewish Church, and that such a license 
should be placed among the institutions, in 
harmony with the " eternal principles of 
morals." 

The Jews were not permitted to make pris- 
oners of any of the seven nations whose land 
was given them for a possession : " Of the cities 
of these people, which the Lord thy God doth 
give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save 
nothing that breatheth, but thou shalt utterly 
destroy them, namely, the Hittites and the 
Amorites," etc. — Deut. xx., 16. Fond as men 
are of slaves, they would not have such as 
could not breathe. The remaining question, 
How were they to treat the other nations called 
the " nations afar off," will therefore settle the 
question (see page 163). It is evident, also, 
that the statute which required every servant 
bought with money to be circumcised and 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



197 



admitted to the Passover (Gen.xvii., 13.; Ex. 
xii., 44) 3 never contemplated the erection of 
shambles in the Holy Land, for the sale of 
heathen, who had experienced no conversion 
to fit them for holy ordinances, excepting that 
of being beaten in a military fight. 

This slavery by captivity, is as shocking to 
humanity, and common sense, as it is contrary 
to the "Word of God. It is admitted in the par- 
agraph under consideration, that seizing on 
those who were free, was an offense punished 
with death." Suppose, then, that the two par- 
ties are equally free, when they join battle, and 
the strong man of course overpowers the weak. 
ZSTow what wizard influence is there, in such a 
process, which strips the weak man of his ina- 
lienable rights, and justifies the other in doing 
that for which one hour before, he would have 
been condemned by the laws of both God and 
men. 

2. By purchase. One would think the law- 
fulness of holding men by purchase, would 
depend on the question — Who sold them, and 
what right had he to do so? Our laws allow 
us to hold horses by purchase. But the man 
who buys a horse, knowing him to be stolen, is 
by the court of heaven, and by every court 
under heaven, classed with the thief. A min- 
ister who would preach that it was right to 



198 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



own bought horses, irrespective of the manner 
in which the seller obtained them, would soon 
find himself in want of a place. A congrega- 
tion of horse thieves would not employ him, 
for though they might be willing to be villains 
themselves, they would insist upon it, that the 
minister ought to be a decent man. The pun- 
ishment by the law of Moses for him who made 
property of man, was death. (For further 
argument on this point, see page 161). 

3. " By right of cr editorship In other words, 
if a poor man or a widow, or fatherless child, 
were through imprudence or affliction, involved 
in debt, and unable to pay it, it was the privi- 
lege of the creditor to seize and enslave that 
poor man, or widow, or fatherless child. To 
the honor of the author we notice that he has 
quoted no text as proof, but we think it would 
have been still more to his credit, had he 
omitted the doctrine itself. . . Had an intel- 
ligent farmer" asserted as the result of his exam- 
ination of the law of Moses, that it licensed 
making slaves of poor men, because they were 
unable to pay their debts, we should not have 
known how to excuse him. But we have 
learned to make great allowance for professors 
in theological seminaries. The truth is, they are 
so busily engaged in teaching the young men 
theology, that they have not time to study their 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



199 



Bibles. On no other principle can we account 
for the ignorance betrayed in this pamphlet, of 
the following regulations by the law of Closes, 
all of which are utterly irreconcilable with dis- 
tressing a poor creditor.* . . Suppose some 
of our missionaries educated at Princeton, 
should write home that they are acting on the 
principle of slavery ly right of creditor ship, and 
that in consequence of many of their neighbors 
being unable to pay for food, and clothing, 
obtained in a time of great scarcity, they have 
become the owners of many slaves. Would 
our professors be willing to own it as the fruit 
of their instructions? Would they not say 
that such conduct was at war with the eternal 
principles of rectitude, as revealed in the Word 
of God? 

4. " By sentence of a judge" . . The fact 
however, is, that the only man who was doomed 
to labor for another, was the thief, who was 
too poor to make restitution. — Ex. xxii., 3. We 
have often wondered that discerning and hon- 
est men could quote this as proof, that the law 
of God approved slavery. With equal propri- 
ety they might quote the Constitution and laws 



* Every seventh year a poor Jewish "brother had his 
debt forgiven, a foreigner had time to pay his, without 
any usury or interest. — Deut. xv., 1-12 ; Lev. xxv., 35-59. 



200 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



of Ohio as proof that they legalize slavehold- 
ing. . . This text is certainly an unfortu- 
nate one for the slaveholder. 

1. It proves that appropriating to one's own 
use a sheep or ox belonging to a neighbor, is 
in equity punished by the judges. Much more 
does it prove that appropriating to our own 
use. the body and soul of a neighbor (who has 
not by crime forfeited his right to himself), is 
in equity, to be punished by the judges. 

2. It proves that dooming a man to labor for 
another, is in God's estimation a punishment — a 
sufficient punishment for a thief- — and a punish- 
ment sufficient to deter others from stealing. " 
It therefore proves that slaveholders are inflict- 
ing upon innocent men and women, the thief's 
punishment. 

4. u By ftirth" In other words, it was part 
of the will of God, that if the parents had 
fallen into the hands of thieves, and had chains 
on them, when the children were born, the 
children ought to be slaves. We object to this 
because it would follow that all who were born 
under the political slavery against which our 
fathers rose in 1775. ought to have continued 
under it, . . and because those persons to 
whom the law of Moses was given, having been 
born of slave parents, were Pharaoh's lawful 
property and that the Lord punished him for 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



201 



that which was his own, according to the 
" eternal principles of morals." . . The 
author of the pamphlet seems to have revolted 
at such a frightful picture of the law of Closes, 
and thus apologizes not for himself, but for his 
Maker. " Moses finding this institution among 
the Hebrews, and all surrounding nations, did 
not abolish it. He enacted laws directing how 
slaves were to be treated," etc. 

1. " Slaveholding was among the surrounding 
nations." This we can readily believe. Of 
course they would not easily consent to the 
existence of a system in their neighborhood, 
calculated to excite discontent and insurrection 
among their slaves. . . But the God of 
Israel quiets their fears of any interference 
with their domestic institutions by making slave- 
holding part of the religion of his own people, 
and he legalizes five ways of making slaves ! 
More ways, perhaps, than some of the pagans 
had ever heard of. 

2. " Slavery existed, among tlie Hebrews" !N~ow 
our children in the Sabbath school know that 
the Israelites received the law fifty days after 
they had celebrated the Passover. They reached 
Mount Sinai in about forty-seven days after 
the}' had left Egypt, escaping from slavery, 
and a part of that time hotly pursued by their 
masters. 



202 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



But our young men must believe, that they 
had been so successful in stealing children by 
the way. or in trading with kidnappers, that 
when they stood before the mount to receive 
the law, they were such inveterate slaveholders 
that the holy God considered it imprudent to 
abolish that institution. And to satisfy them 
that nothing serious against the sin of slavery 
was meant, by the plagues of Egypt, and that 
in the many threatening^ of his law, against 
oppression, more was said than was seriously 
intended. He declared it to be his holy will 
that slaveholding and slavemaking should be 
continued in five ways S . . Seriously, we 
ask, Is it not high time for all the churches to 
arise and put away a sin which can not be 
defended without such blasphemy of God and 
and his Word ? 

But we do not charge the author of this pam- 
phlet with any intentional impropriety. There 
is this apology for which he will not thank us — 
to write a book to prove that slaveholding is 
justified by the Bible, without blaspheming 
God and his TTord, is among the impossibil- 
ities. 

To Dr. Crothers' influence and writings, we 
mainly attribute the strong anti-slavery feeling 
within the bounds of the Chillicothe Presby- 
tery — so strong that the Presbytery in 1839, 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



203 



passed readily the following resolutions, intro- 
duced by him, viz : 

1. Resolved, That slaveholding and justify- 
ing the holding of men as slaves, are heinous 
sins against God and man, and that the exer- 
cise of discipline for these, as for other heinous 
sins, can not be omitted, without a flagrant 
dereliction of duty. 

2. Resolved, That this Presbytery will not 
receive as a candidate for the ministry, license, 
or ordain, any known to hold slaves, or to jus- 
tify the practice of slaveholding. 

3. Resolved, That pastors and churches 
under our jurisdiction, be and they hereby are 
enjoined, to prohibit ail ministers, known either 
to hold slaves or to justify the holding of slaves, 
from exercising the functions of the ministry, 
in the churches under their care. 

4. Resolved, That this Presbytery can not 
hold fellowship with any Presbytery, Synod, 
or other ecclesiastical body while it tolerates 
under its jurisdiction, either the sin of slave- 
holding or the justification of the sin of slave- 
holding, and especially the justification of it by 
appeal to the Scriptures, which in the judg- 
ment of this Presbytery, is blasphemy of 
Almighty God, and a shocking prostitution 
of his Word. 

The Synod of Cincinnati, of which the 



204 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



Chillicothe Presbytery is part, at its meeting 
the same year, passed a resolution requiring 
them to review and rescind the last resolution 
as unbrotherly and unconstitutional. This the 
Presbytery refused to do, and in their pream- 
ble and resolutions on the subject, severely 
commented on the neglect of discipline in the 
Presbyterian Church, as respects slavery. " The 
painful truth is (say the committee, and their 
report was adopted), that slavery, in addition 
to stripping millions of our citizens of their 
natural rights, and the means of salvation, has 
corrupted to the core, the faith, the morals, the 
government and discipline of the Presbyterian 
Church." 

We have already, in Chapter II, noticed why 
Dr. Crothers remained in connection with that 
body, while thus obliged to condemn their 
action on the slavery question. Doubtless 
those acting with him were influenced by sim- 
ilar reasons. By him they were considered 
suflicient reasons for his course. On the subject 
of slavery, as far as its connection with teach- 
ings of the Bible was concerned, his pen was 
ever ready. Nothing shocked him so much as 
an attempt to defend slavery from the Bible. 
Among his papers we find a copy of a letter 
written to the late Dr. Alexander, in reference 
to the word "servant" in his dictionary. It 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



205 



was written in 1831 and forwarded to Dr. Alex- 
ander, and from a note on the back of it, we 
learn that it was, by him, laid before the S. S. 
Com., Philadelphia, and the result was an alter- 
ation in the next edition of the Dictionary.^ 

Next to slavery, as sins cherished in the 
Church, he abominated secret societies. To 
belong to some of them he considered a scan- 
dalous sin — consequently one for which a mem- 
ber of the Church ought to be disciplined. As 
we have already shown, he did not consider, 
that every sin was a matter for discipline, but 
when it became a scandal then it rendered its 
subject unclean, just as the leprosy under the 
old economy, not the first breaking out of the 
disease, but when it became " deep-seated," was 
its subject, by the priest, pronounced unclean. 

The reasons given by Dr. Crothers for con- 
sidering membership in the society of " Odd 
Fellows," a scandal, are as follows : 

"First. The society of 'Odd Fellows' is a 
secret society, and if its secrecy does not imply 
doings which can not bear the light, it at least 
renders its moral character doubtful, and sus- 
picious. 



* The positions taken in the letter are the same as taken 
in the preceding part of this chapter, hence we have not 
copied the letter. 



206 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



" Second. So far as said society claims a reli- 
gious character, it is deistical, and is founded 
on deistical principles. The Constitution pro- 
vides for the admission of members of every 
creed, and every heresy, excepting atheists. 

" Hence, at funerals and on other occasions, 
the name of Jesus has to be frequently omitted. 
Members who hold that he was an impostor, 
and those in whose litany there is a form of 
prayer, called the 'Execration,' beseeching the 
Almighty to destroy Jesus of Nazareth, his 
kingdom and followers, could not in consistency 
and common honesty, consent to a prayer in 
his name. And we can not conceive how a 
reflecting member can bear the thought, that 
when he dies, and his spirit is standing before 
the bar of God, his brethren, with his previous 
consent, will be repeating over his lifeless body, 
a prayer which repudiates the name of Jesus ; 
the only way in which God can be gracious to 
a sinner. 

" Third. Another feature in the religious 
character of said society, is idolatry. This is 
obvious to any one who seriously reflects on 
the manner in which they adorn their lodges ; 
and their public processions, in which they 
carry through the streets pictures and images 
or symbols of the eye of the invisible God— of 
the different persons of the Trinity — of the 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



207 



offices and blessings of the Redeemer. Their 
apology does not and can not differ from that 
of all idolaters. They profess not to worship 
them, but to use them simply as means of suit- 
ably affecting their understandings and heart." 
(See Ark and Odd Fellows Magazine, vol iii., 
page 175.) 

Some of their symbols rre those which were 
used in the ancient pagan temples, where such 
gods as Baal and Chemosh were worshiped — 
those which Moses (Deut. iv., 19) calls the 
"Host of Heaven," viz : the Sun, Moon and 
Stars. And they are used to represent different 
persons of the Godhead. The sun they explain 
as representing, among other things, the glori- 
ous Sun of Eighteousness ; the seven stars, the 
Holy Spirit, or to use their own phrase, the 
seven spirits of God. 

Some of them are popish symbols. They 
carry in their public processions a cross. They 
say it " reminds us of the labors of, and dying 
love of Christ, the incarnate Son of God, on 
whom are founded all our hopes of pardon and 
redemption," etc. And the man who carries 
it, may be one, whose faith respecting Jesus 
Christ, may be such that it can not be repeated 
in the company of sober men, without exciting 
horror. The Constitution of the society admits 
no distinction among members, on account of 



208 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 



Christian or Anti-Christian sentiments. Some 
of them are taken from the Sinai covenant. A 
lamb ; this like many of the symbols, has sev- 
eral uses. It reminds us, they say, " Of the 
Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world." "It also reminds us that we are the 
sheep of his pasture, and the objects of his pecu- 
liar regard." Some of them are caricatures of * 
the holiest symbols that once adorned the house 
of God. The Ark of the covenant, Aaron's 
budding-rod, the pot of manna, and other Di- 
vinely instituted types of the Saviour and his 
blessings. 

In many instances the explanation of them 
is palpably opposed to the teachings of God's 
"Word. And the man who carries them may be 
a disciple of Caiphas, of Ballou or Yoltaire. 

As pledges of the Saviour's blessings, the use 
of them was set aside by his death, but as sym- 
bols and as exhibited in the Scriptures, their 
use will never cease, while there is a church on 
earth. And any society that degrades them in 
public processions, or in any other way, is so 
far essentially Anti-Christian in its character. 

Finally, one of the officers in the " Odd Fel- 
lows" society, is called Grand High-Priest. 
Melchisedek and Aaron and his sons were typ- 
ical High-Priests. But Grand or Great High- 
Priest, is one of the incommunicable titles of 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



209 



the Son of God ; the Lord of glory. It desig- 
nates him who is God in our nature, and on 
whose priestly work hangs the salvation of 
the world, and God's greatest revenue of glory. 
And there can be no apology for attempting to 
transfer such a title to a fellow-worm, better 
than that by which the man of sin would just- 
ify the same iniquity. 

There may be many pious ministers and 
people who have been allured into the society 
in question, and it is with some frequency 
declared to be a better institution than the 
Church of God. All this deepens the convic- 
tion that it is ingeniously calculated to enslave 
and ruin the young and the simple. 

In the carrying out of these principles he 
found it necessary to exclude members from 
his congregation — the mere fact that his con- 
gregation would in some degree be weakened, 
or that he himself would be rendered unpop- 
ular, never made him for a moment entertain 
the thought of making compromises with any 
thing considered by him as sin. 

TTe will close this chapter by presenting the 
substance of his report on Divorce, prepared 
and read by appointment of the Chillicothe 
Presbytery. Our reason for introducing it 
here is the fact that the same position has been 
taken in reference to divorce that is taken in 



210 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



reference to slavery, viz : that the teachings of 
the Old and New Testaments do not harmon- 
ize on this subject, a thing which we can not 
for a moment admit, and which if proved, we 
are free to confess, would go far to invalidate 
our argument from the Old Testament, against 
slavery. 

The position taken by Dr. Crothers is, that 
fornication before marriage, and adultery after 
it, are the only things for which divorce is 
authorized in the Scriptures. He admits the 
Scriptures speak of allowed separation for other 
causes (Deut. xxiv., 1-4), and (Matt, xix., 2-13), 
but denies that it was commanded. We w x ill 
however, present the matter in his own words: 

" There is a statute in Deuteronomy xxiv., 
1-4, a misunderstanding, and false translation 
of which, have occasioned nearly all the confu- 
sion and difficulty on the general subject of 
divorce : £ When a man hath taken a wife, and 
married her, and it come to pass that she hath 
found no favor in his eyes, because he hath 
found some uncleanness in her, then let him write 
her a hill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, 
and send her out of his house,' etc. 

Dr. Crothers would translate, ' and hath writ- 
ten her a hill of divorcement and given it into her 
handy etc. 

" We have (says he) insuperable objections, 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



211 



to our commonly received translation of the 
passage before us. 

In the first place, it brings the statute into 
collision with the moral character of God. It 
represents the God of Israel as licensing the 
woman to marry another man ; and then for 
doing so charges her with Being defiled — a 
phrase which, in Scripture, means being guilty 
of whoredom — and declares that in case of the 
death of that husband, or of his putting her 
away, if her former husband take her, after 
being thus defiled, it will be an abomination, it 
will bring sin upon the land, upon the Lord's 
inheritance. 

"Again : Our Lord expressly condemns the 
interpretation which our translation would put 
upon the passage. He declares that there is 
but one defect, or offense existing before mar- 
riage, and detected after marriage, which will 
authorize a man to put away his wife and 
many another : and that the man who would 
marry a woman put away for any other offense 
would be guilty of adultery. 

" Again : Our Lord declares that Moses never 
commanded the man to put away his wife for 
the cause noticed in this statute. He merely 
suffered it. That is, he did not authorize the 
Synagogue, or the Church, to take cognizance 
of it by the exercise of discipline. 



212 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



. . . It appears, then, that in the stat- 
ute before us we have a supposed case. A man 
has found in his wife some uncleanness (in the 
margin, matter of nakedness, or defect), i. e., 
some deficiency which renders her an unpleas- 
ant companion. He concludes they must live 
separately. He puts her away, giving her a 
bill of divorcement (a writing of putting away), 
i. e., a certificate of her true standing and char- 
acter. She is not chargeable with any thing 
which would authorize him to marry another, 
or would justify the elders in instituting pro- 
cess against her — but simply she does not find 
favor in his sight. Hence, in various statutes 
we see a divorced woman in good standing in 
the Church. 

" In the law regulating vows (Numb, xxxi., 
9), no one can forbid the vow of a divorced 
woman, or widow. . . . Also, in the law 
deciding who may eat of the holy things, the 
divorced daughter of a priest, having returned 
to her father's house, is reckoned among the 
holy persons, and she may eat of her father's 
meat (Lev. xi., 13). These are cases of sepa- 
ration merely from bed and board. 

" It seems reasonable to suppose that this 
statute implies some check to prevent evil- 
minded husbands from sending away their 
wives, in order that they may marry others. 



SAMUEL CR0THERS* 



213 



From our Lord's remarks, it appears that in 
the case of the wife being defiled, the husband 
must neither take her, nor any other to be his 
wife. He declares, that in that case, the hus- 
band is partaker with her in guilt : L He caus- 
eth her to commit adultery.' Mat. v., 32. It 
seems to have been this which confounded the 
disciples, when they exclaimed, ' If the case of 
a man be so with his wife, it is not good to 
marry.' Mat. xix., 10. 

" We say nothing of those cases in which the 
Jews were required to put away strange wives. 
These were not cases of divorce, in any sense 
of the term ; such marriages being unlawful 
were null from the beginning. 

" Second. We shall now consider the other 
kind of divorce — the only one which the law of 
God commands^ and regulates. This divorce dis- 
solves the marriage bond. It releases the 
innocent party (e vinculo matrimonii), and au- 
thorizes him or her to marry another. The 
Jewish Church was required to put the offender 
to death, but the Christian Church having no 
power to inflict civil pains can only exercise 
ecclesiastical discipline, and leave the offender 
in the hands of the civil magistrate. 

" In regard to this kind of divorce, there are 
two questions, viz : What offense, committed 
before marriage, and what offense, committed 



214 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



after marriage, will justify it ? Our Lord has 
given, very clearly and unequivocally, the law 
of Moses : 1 "Whosoever shall put away his wife, 
except it be for fornication, and shall marry 
another, committeth adultery; and whoso mar- 
rieth her which is put away doth commit 
adultery.' 

"He says nothing on the question, What 
offense, after marriage, will dissolve the mar- 
riage tie ? The reason is obvious. . . . On 
the question, What offense, by the husband or 
wife, after marriage, will justify the innocent 
party in obtaining a divorce, and marrying 
another? there was not then, and there' never 
has been any controversy in Israel. Under 
the Patriarchal dispensation, Job preaches it 
as a doctrine well understood in his day, that 
adultery was an iniquity to be punished by 
the judges. The law of Moses, again and 
again, expressly requires that the adulterer 
and adulteress shall surely be put to death. 
Deut. xxii., 22 ; Lev. xx., 10. And the apostle 
intimates to the Eomans, that every person, 
who understood the law, knew that death dis- 
solved the marriage tie. — Eom. vii., 1 — 4. In 
this case no writing of divorcement was neces- 
sary. . . . But the prevailing heresy of the 
day was, that some other anti-nuptial offense 
than fornication was sufficient to dissolve the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



215 



marriage relation. Sometimes they appealed 
to the traditions of the fathers for proof. Hence 
our Lord, in his sermon on the mount (Mat. v., 
31), notices it among the corrupt things, that 
had been ' said by them of old time.' Some- 
times they undertake to quote the law of Hoses, 
and their only quotation is in Deut. xxiv., the 
false translation of which we have noticed. 
They understood it, as our translators did, as 
commanding the husband to give the wife a 
writing of divorcement when he puts her away, 
and as licensing another marriage. £ It hath 
been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife let 
him give her a writing of divorcement. But I 
say unto you, that whosoever shall put away 
his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth 
her to commit adultery ; and whosoever shall 
marry her that is divorced, committeth adul- 
tery.' Josephus tells us, that he divorced his 
wife to marry another ; and gravely assigns as 
the reason, that her manners did not please 
him. So confident were teachers of that day, 
that the statute justified such a course, that 
they determined, on one occasion, publicly to 
expose our Lord, by daring him to take oppo- 
site grounds (see Mat. xix., 2 — 12), < The Phari- 
sees came to him tempting him, and saying 
unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away 
his wife for every cause ? And he answered,' etc. 



216 



LIFE AND WRITINGS GF 



The force of our Lord's argument depends 
on the fact, that the original ordinance of 
marriage, to which he appeals, is still in force, 
and unrepeatable. This doctrine is, that those 
who separate man and wife, except for the 
reasons specified by the law, are chargeable 
with putting asunder those whom God hath 
joined. £ They say unto him, Why did Moses 
then command to give a writing of divorce- 
ment, and to put her away ? ' The substance 
of our Lord's reply is, that they had perverted 
the text to which they were appealing. Moses 
gave no such command. But, to save an inno- 
cent wife from the misery of living with a 
hard-hearted husband, who would not love 
her, he merely suffered it.* 

"Again he refers them to the original unre- 
pealed statute. He saith unto them, ' Moses, 
because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered 
you to put away your wives ; but from the 
beginning it was not so ; ' and, in conclu- 
sion, he tells them again, what is the only 
anti-nuptial offense which will dissolve the 
matrimonial bond, and justify the innocent 
party in marrying another. ' I say unto you, 

* i. e., They might separate, and not live together as 
man and wife, but still the relation existed ; and if either 
one marry it was adultery. They might come together 
again, provided neither were denied. 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



217 



whosoever shall put away his wife, except it 
shall be for fornication, and shall marry another, 
committeth adultery, and whosoever marryeth 
her that is put away committeth adultery.' 

" As to the sentiment current in the present 
day, that such wilful desertion as can not be 
remedied by the Church or the magistrate, is 
sufficient cause of dissolving the band of mar- 
riage, we know of no warrant for it in the 
Word of God. It is not supported by the decla- 
ration (1 Cor. vii., 15), 1 A brother or sister is 
not in bondage in such cases.' The term bond- 
age has no reference to the marriage bond. 

" We conclude with the following summary 
of what we believe the Bible teaches on the 
matter. 

" First. The original ordinance of marriage 
is still in force. And for the sake of living 
together, the parties are bound to make great 
sacrifices, even to ' leaving father and mother,' 

" Second. If to avoid the evils arising from 
the hardness of the heart, or for the sake of 
peace (1 Cor. vii., 15), the parties consider it 
necessary to live separately, and in the mean 
time do not slander or bring reproach on each 
others character, ft is to be suffered; such sep- 
aration merely is not to be classed by the 
Church with those sins technically called — 
'heinous sins and scandals.' 
19 



218 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



" Third. The marriage bond is of course 
dissolved by death. But there is no cause for 
which the Word of God authorizes a husband 
or wife to sue out a divorce, and after a divorce 
to marry another, excepting when the other 
party has by due process been proved guilty 
of fornication with another person, before mar- 
riage, or of adultery after marriage." 

If this theory of divorce is correct, surely it 
is high time that our civil laws should be altered 
on the matter, and made to conform to the law 
of God. If our obligations to obey God's law 
is not sufficient to lead us to seek the reform, 
self-interest might do it. " For righteousness 
exalteth a nation, but sin" (and especially 
legalized sin) "is a reproach to any people." 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



219 



CHAPTEE V. 

Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints." 

Were we to describe the personal appear- 
ance of Dr. Crothers, from his writings, we 
would most certainly present a false impres- 
sion. Instead of the free, open, thoughtful 
countenance, indicative of sympathy and of 
benevolence, we would have been predisposed 
to say it would indicate, moroseness, firmness 
and severity ; but nothing would have been fur- 
ther from the truth, as his portrait, in some de- 
gree, will show. Generally there was a kindly, 
friendly expression on his countenance, well 
representing characteristics of mind within, 
together with an expression of the eye which 
practical physiognomists would at once as- 
sert betrays the power to read character at 
a glance — a broad, well-developed forehead, 
which phrenologists would say indicates a 
capacity for mathematics and great powers of 
generalization ; of a medium hight, with body 
firmly built, and capable of great endurance. 
Altogether there was something prepossessing 



220 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



in his appearance — something calculated to 

inspire respect, and win affection. 

And here the question arises, Why is it that 
his writings would present before us a different 
image? The answer is obvious— on account of 
the strength of his sympathy, he entered 
largely into the feelings of those who were 
oppressed, no matter of what class, or by whom 
they were injured. Hence, on account of the 
wicked and unjustifiable prevalence of oppres- 
sion in our Southern States, he was led largely 
to write against it ; and from his strong sense 
of right, to denounce it, in sometimes unmeas- 
ured terms. Thus there is a harshness and 
a sarcasm in his writings, not indeed too strong 
when we fully consider the subject on which 
he writes ; but yet one which would suggest a 
different character and personal appearance, 
from that which he possessed. 

Along with his sympathy for his fellow-men, 
there was an intense devotedness to, and a 
desire for the promotion of both the public and 
private prosperity and reputation of the citizen, 
and the nation — though ever warring against 
national abuses, he was in the truest sense of 
the word, a patriot. A character which our 
mental philosophers have ever noted, as belong- 
ing to those having great desire for, and capa- 
bility of enjoying domestic happiness to the 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



221 



fullest degree, was strongly developed in Dr. 
Crothers. Hence the fact that he entered the 
marriage relation no less than four times. The 
first, March 1813. to Miss Mary McChord, sis- 
ter of the eloquent James McChord, whom we 
have already noticed as a class-mate at the 
Is ew York seminary. Their union lasted not 
quite thirteen years, she dying in January 
1826. As the fruit of their marriage, they had 
four children, two are yet living— a son and a 
daughter ; the son, John Mason Crothers, is 
now a member of the present "Illinois Legisla- 
ture." 

In January, 1827, he again entered the mar- 
riage state, with Miss Martha Alexander; but 
their companionship was destined to be of 
short duration — she died in August of the same 
year, and thus once more his home was left 
desolate, and he alone to struggle in the battle 
of life. To a sensitive nature like his, these 
must have been sore trials. But his faith was 
in God, and his path was made plain before 
him. In July 1829, he again obtained a part- 
ner of his joys and sorrows in Miss Mary Jane 
Young. By her he had two sons, both now 
living, the youngest looking forward in a very 
short time, as a herald of the cross to preach 
the same Gospel, which so much delighted his 
father to proclaim. This union though longer 



222 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



than the preceding one. was yet of short dura- 
tion, not quite five years. How did he expe- 
rience in those changes, that the relations of 
life pass away as the snow before the summer's 
sun. and that on earth there is no abiding 
pleasure. 

Again left a lonely pilgrim, with a nature 
formed for the enjoyment of domestic happi- 
ness, we wonder not. that he sought another, 
to be to him a "help-meet," in his labors of 
love ; and his desire was gratified in obtaining 
Mrs. Amanda Dunlap MeCague, in January, 
1835. By her he had five children, but only 
one is left, to be the solace of his widowed 
mother. 

This union was destined to be of longer dura- 
tion than any of the others, viz : a period of 
twenty-one years. But his decease has ended 
it. and the partner of it is now left to meditate 
on the truths she so often heard from his lips — 
to copy his example, and rejoice in the hope of 
soon meeting him, where— 

" Death divided friends, at last 
Shall meet, to part no more." 

As a Husband, a Father, and a Friend, he 
was eminently kind and conciliatory. The 
obedience of his children was secured, not by 
stern command, but by the persuasion of an 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



223 



affectionate nature. Few possessed the same 
power of making every one feel " at home ;; in 
his presence: and they must have been exceed- 
ingly ignorant if he did not draw them out, 
and interest them in conversation on some use- 
ful subject. Eut on no subject was he so much 
at home as Biblical criticisms, and seldom 
would he long converse with ministerial 
friends before something, dropped in the con- 
versation, would present an opportunity, natu- 
rally, to introduce his favorite topic ; and few 
would long converse with him on such subjects, 
without adding to their stock of knowledge — 
if not by direct information, by having a 
new train of thought suggested, which is indeed 
of more value than the direct impartation of 
knowledge. 

Having, naturally, a taste for the study of 
the Scriptures, wo need not wonder that he 
obtained a deejD insight into their meaning. 
Often did he wonder concerning controverted 
passages, that their meaning (which he said 
was generally simple, and on the surface) 
should be so often mistaken. 

The tracing the harmony between the Old 
and Xew Testaments, was to him a work of 
much pleasure ; and with much zeal he repro- 
bated any thing that would tend to bring the 
Old Testament Scriptures into disrepute. Nor 



224 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



is this to be wondered at when we remember, 
that he held that an acquaintance with the 
Old Testament Scriptures was necessary to 
fully understanding the K~ew. " No man (says 
he) can understand the history of the Saviour, 
particularly his last suffering and death, with- 
out the light of the ceremonial law." With 
such views we should expect that he would 
advocate the study of the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures ; and with some zeal he did so, of which 
the following extract, from one of his published 
articles, is an example: " The moment students 
of theology abandon the study of Moses and 
the prophets for systems of second-handed, 
systematic, and polemic theology, the race of 
men mighty in the Scriptures, will become 
extinct. If there was a man in the apostolic 
times, who stood pre-eminent among those who 
were full of the Holy Ghost, and mighty in the 
work of convincing Jews and Gentiles, it was 
he who was distinguished for his knowledge 
of the law of Moses. The superior qualifica- 
tions of Timothy as a good minister, nourished 
up in the words of faith and good doctrine, 
are ascribed, under God, to the privilege he 
had enjoyed from his infancy, of being taught, 
by a pious mother and grand-mother, to under- 
stand the Old Testament. 

" It was the adoption of a very different plan 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



225 



of training young men for the ministry which 
has hoisted the flood-gates of error, and deluged 
with heresy some of the fairest portions of 
Christendom. A disposition to give pagan 
writers, and the laws and customs of heathen 
nations, the place of the prophets and the laws 
and customs of the Old Testament Church, is 
one of the worst signs of our times. There 
would be nothing in the errors which now 
interrupt the peace of the Church, calculated to 
make us despair, if the friends of truth would 
cling to the proper principle of Scripture inter- 
pretation. But, unless this be done, the ban- 
ishment of all the errors which may now be 
found in the Church, would not materially 
better her condition thirty years hence." 

In accordance with these principles, we 
would expect to see him drilling his own stu- 
dents; for his reputation as a theologian 
brought some fifteen or twenty students, at 
different times, to study with him, and his 
mode of teaching, by one of those students, we 
now subjoin. 

M From fifteen to twenty students received 
their theological training, in whole or in part, 
under Dr. Crothers' supervision. If there was 
any thing peculiar in his mode of instruction, 
it was this : the Bible, itself, was the only text-booh. 
While he would recommend his students to 



226 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



read other books, lie seldom, and perhaps never 
heard them recite from any book but the Bible. 
He required them to read to him, chapter by 
chapter, in the original, examining them closely 
upon the language and meaning of the author. 
Their recitations were, in the fullest sense of 
the word, Bible class exercises. He ever in- 
sisted upon it, that the great business of a 
theological instructor is, to induce his students 
to form the habit of studying the Bible by itself. 
He had a great dislike to what are called, sys- 
tems of moral philosophy. Believing the Bible 
to be the Word of God — hence a perfect and 
infallible rule of morals as well as faith — he 
taught no other, he recommended no other. 
He maintained, that to undertake to write a 
system of morals, independently of the Word 
of God, was like turning our backs on the sun 
and endeavoring to enlighten the world with 
our own sparks — that if such a course was not 
itself essentially infidel, it often led to infidelity. 
The authors of these systems frequently give, 
as the deductions of their own reason, facts 
and principles which they have unconsciouly 
received from the Bible, and thoughtless read- 
ers conclude, that if so much can be found out 
independently of a Divine revelation, we can 
get along very well without one." 

Bearing in mind his love for the Bible, and 



SAMUEL CK0THER3, 



227 



his knowledge of its teachings, we need scarcely 
say that his piety was not a frothy, sickly sen- 
timentalism. but of a kind more deep and solid, 
a piety grounded on knowledge — knowledge 
obtained from the teachings of Scripture. He 
had experience testifying to the Fact, that the 
Scriptures were - able to make wise unto salva- 
tion." And he also knew well, that knowledge 
was necessary to strong faith — that it was 
necessary to understand the doctrines of the 
"Word of God. if nutriment would be obtained 
therefrom for spiritual growth. It was by 
means of the Word and ordinances that he 
himself grew ; hence, his chief desire was. to 
lead his flock by the same living pastures — 
appeals to the feelings he never attempted, but 
strove always to bring the truth to bear on the 
conscience and the heart. His piety was also 
of the kind which is hidden in the heart (and 
not carried in the mouth): it showed itself more 
in acts than in words — of that kind which 
sought the approval of God, caring little for 
the applause of men. 

TTith his knowledge and piety he must have, 
and indeed did exercise a large influence in 
Church courts. And here we present, from the 
same pen as our extract describing his mode 
of teaching students, an estimate of his charac- 
ter as a member of Church courts : 



228 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



< : Dr. Crothers attached great importance to 
the government and discipline of the Church. 
He was shocked at the popular error, that dis- 
cipline is a mode of punishment, used by 
Church officers to wreak their vengeance upon 
those whom they dislike. 

( * Believing the great end of discipline to be 
the purification of the Church from unworthy 
members, and the reformation of those who 
have fallen into sin. he ever held, that to neg- 
lect discipline was to be unfaithful to his trust, 
and to withhold an important means of grace 
and salvation, from those over whom he was 
appointed to watch. Hence, he was remarka- 
bly punctual in his attendance upon Church 
courts. He early made it a rule, never to be 
absent on the plea that he had heard that 
streams in the way were too much swollen to 
be crossed. Knowing that such rumors are 
often false, he would himself inspect the stream, 
and if he could not cross it then, he could wait 
a little until he could do so. In this way he 
often succeeded in reaching the place of meet- 
ing when others failed through unnecessary 
fears. 

tt His influence in a Church court was always 
great. He was not obtrusive. His speeches 
were usually short, grave, dignified, and always 
to the point. On account of his earnest, nervous 



SAMUEL CR0THERS. 



229 



temperament, and his powers of sarcasm, they 
"would sometimes seem harsh and severe. A 
stranger hearing him on such an occasion, when 
aroused by some important subject, would 
be liable to form a very erroneous opinion of 
his temper and spirit. 

" He often expressed his surprise, when told 
by his friends that he had been severe — assur- 
ing them that he had been utterly unconscious 
of any feelings of resentment. He was a master 
in what is called '-reductio ad absurdum ; ' and 
when an opponent (not familiar with him) 
would see with wonder, and not without feel- 
ings of shame, his elaborate speech knocked to 
pieces by a few blows of Dr. C's powerful 
weapon, he would feel like exclaiming, < an 
enemy hath done this : ' but a few moments' 
private conversation would show him that he 
was much mistaken." 

Were we required, in a single sentence, to 
describe his character, we do not know that we 
could do it better, than by quoting Bayne in 
reference to Chalmers : He, " as a man and a 
thinker, was a great mass of common sense." 

His labors as a pastor were greatly blessed ; 
as evidence of which, during his ministry of 
thirty-six years there were added to his congre- 
gation, six hundred and eighty-three members, 
the greater number on personal examination • 



230 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



and few pastors have had so much influence In 
molding their members' characters. ,; How 
wide-spread (says a pastor who knew him 
well, and loved him much, though in ano- 
ther denomination, writing from Oregon) how 
wide-spread and lasting his influence. There 
are men, even in Oregon, whose characters 
were molded by his influence.*' As an index 
to his popularity in his own neighborhood, we 
might mention the fact, that in this small town, 
during his ministry, he married no less than 
three hundred and sixty-four couples — he being 
called to officiate at such ceremonies, in almost 
every case, when the parties did not belong to 
any other denomination, or in the absence of 
their own pastor. 

But the time of the end of his probation 
on earth drew near — the time when his Master 
was about to call him to give an account of his 
stewardship. A few weeks before his death he 
was attacked with a stroke of apoplexy, but 
soon partially recovered, and for a few sab- 
baths supplied his pulpit, preaching to the 
congregation sitting. Finding, however, the 
effort too much for his strength — to avoid the 
temptation of attempting it. he resolved on a 
visit to his children in Illinois. He reached 
the house of his eldest son, in Oswego, in that 
State, in safety, and his friends in Greenfield 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



231 



were cheered with the intelligence that he was 
much better. But on sabbath evening. July 
20, 1556. in a moment, by a repetition of the 
apoplectic stroke, he was released from the 
cares of earth, and. without doubt, his spirit was 
by angels carried to behold the face of that 
Saviour, whom he so long preached, as u able 
and willing to save to the uttermost, all that 
come unto God by him." 

On the 23d of the same month, his remains 
were brought back to the scene of his labors 
and his prayers: and amid the tears of his 
bereaved family, and sorrowing flock, were 
committed to the tomb, a few yards from the 
pulpit where he had so long repeated the words 
of inspiration : " There is no work, nor device, 
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave 
whither thou goest." 

As soon as we heard of his sickness, we hast- 
ened to his room, with a heart somewhat sad, 
expecting to enter an atmosphere of sadness, 
but never were we more agreeably disap- 
pointed; His cheerfulness was sufficient to 
banish sadness from all around him. A few 
minutes of desultory conversation, led us natu- 
rally to our own wonted theme — Biblical criti- 
cism, and soon I, at least, forgot that he was 
sick. Death had no terrors for him, he lived 



232 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



in faith, and his confidence was, he would die 
in faith ; and never have we seen him more 
cheerful, than when speaking of his decease, 
which he supposed was near, and thinking who 
would fill his pulpit, when his voice no more 
would be heard. 

On this latter subject, he was somewhat 
anxious ; without any wish to dictate, he gave 
advice regarding the matter ; that advice was 
followed, his congregation again " see their 
teacher." But the remembrance of their former 
pastor will not be forgotten while a single 
member remains in this vale of tears. 2^ay ! 
his name to them, will ever remain as the 
" savor of a sweet ointment." 

"We have no record of the exercises of 
his mind preceding his death — at the time, 
though thought to be at no great distance, 
it was yet in a manner sudden and unex- 
pected. We however regret this the less, from 
the fact that we know, that had he himself been 
consulted on the subject, he would have said, 
l i Tell them how I lived, and then they will 
know how I died." 

The custom of magnifying and almost endow- 
ing with inspired importance, death -bed say- 
ings, he always condemned. In the close of 
his " Life of Abraham," we find the following : 



SAMUEL CROTHERS. 



233 



" We have no particular account of the last 
sickness of Abraham, nor of his exercise on his 
death-bed. We generally inquire with great 
solicitude, what our friends said, and how they 
felt in their last moments. Modern historians 
are very particular on that point. Every 
pious act and expression is detailed, as if that 
was to decide the great question of the future. 
Inspired historians on the other hand, tell us 
how they lived, and they scarcely ever tell us 
a word about their exercise when they were 
sick, on their death-beds. They appear pur- 
posely to avoid it, as a matter of but little 
importance. 

" It is probable that Abraham's death, was 
not so sudden as that of Sarah. In the notice 
of the persons who took the lead, in exercises 
and ceremonies, called "burying Mm, we have 
incidental notice that Ishmael was there. And 
if the family had sufficient previous intimation 
of his approaching death, to send for one of 
the sons, it is not improbable that most of his 
children were around his death-bed. The 
promise made to him, and confirmed by sacri- 
fice, soon after the discomfiture of the pagan 
invaders, was literally fulfilled : i Thou shalt 
go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt be 
buried in a good old age.' " 
20 



234 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 



This was also true of himself — all his chil- 
dren were present at his funeral; he also 
" died in peace, and was buried in a good old 
age." Eow, doubtless, he understands in a 
higher sense, than when on earth, the meaning 
of the declaration, "Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea saith 
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, 
and their works do follow them." 



THE END. 





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